Co chair introduction

Nau mai, haere mai

Kahungunu Mana! Kahungunu Tangata! Kahungunu Iwi! Kahungunu ki te ao mārama e! Nei rā te mihi ki a koutou ngā rangatira. Tihei Kahungunu e!

This is a refresh of our first RWP published last year. It is an opportunity for us to update you on the mahi of the Regional Skills Leadership Group, what is happening in the local labour market and where the region needs to be focussing in the year ahead.

The devastation to our region after Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 has left many in our communities uncertain of their future. The entire infrastructure of our communities has been tested and from this adversity the strength of community, Iwi, hapū and whānau has been the muka that has held our region together.

As we move to a recovery and resilience stage, the mandate of Regional Skills Leadership Group (RSLG) becomes an even more important link in ensuring the people in our region can access the things that will support them to stay in our region. Our whānau need warm homes, accessible health and psychosocial services, employment opportunities and reliable infrastructure, and the RSLG priorities are now more important than ever before.

In the first RWP we acknowledged the important role the primary sector plays in our rohe by focusing on workforce challenges of the horticulture and the meat processing industries. We also recognised the changing workforce pressures of the construction sector. We gained an understanding of the demographics of our regional workforce and investigated opportunities to deliver outcomes for our rangatahi transitioning from school, as well as connecting wāhine and work ready jobseekers into the workforce. We remain committed to these priority groups as we move forward to support the recovery and building back better.

In this refresh of our RWP we have identified additional areas of priority which have become more pertinent: the cyclone recovery, driver licencing in schools and the healthcare workforce. We will use our role to inform and support the regional labour market challenges, and work to ensure equitable opportunities exist within these focus areas for our diverse communities to thrive.

We aim to promote inclusive career pathways and foster cultural competency in our region’s industries at every step and the continuing challenge to create an equitable space for Iwi, hapū and whānau will always be a key outcome we will strive to understand and improve.

RSLG has a key role in ensuring that the skills, training and workforce needs of the region are aligned with the localised and regional recovery plans. We will connect and inform wherever we can to ensure the workforce needs of our region support our communities to build back better and that our communities have the opportunity to create sustainable life pathways for themselves, their whānau and the tamariki traumatised by the events of February 2023.

This RWP would not be possible without the dedication of our members, the secretariat and the community we serve who contribute greatly to our successes.

Thank you for your time and your commitment to our mahi.

Tania Eden & Erin Simpson

Hawke’s Bay RSLG Co Chair

< Regional Workforce Plan 2023 | Labour market update >