12 September 2016 Worrying times as trade shortages rise Andrew Robertson, Got a Trade Week chair, has announced a national campaign to promote New Zealand’s need for more skilled people in trades. A sponsorship worth more than $1 million has been negotiated by a group of eight Industry Training Organisations into the national marketing campaign Got a Trade Week, to raise awareness of careers that exist in 140 trades and services in New Zealand. The second annual campaign, being held from 22-26 August, will celebrate the talents and achievements of Kiwi apprentices making headway in their vocation, and focus on the future demand expected for skilled workers across all trades and services. Got a Trade Week also aims to lift the perception of workplace training and stimulate enrolments to give your industry the quality workforce it needs into the future. Got a Trade Week chair, Andrew Robertson says New Zealand’s skills shortage is real and needs to be urgently addressed if the economy is to keep buoyant. “The national campaign will promote New Zealand’s need for more skilled people in trades and services. According to 2015 Immigration NZ data, one third of the occupations on the Long-Term Skills Shortage List are trades and services. There is a worrying trend of major shortfalls being predicted and by 2020 there will be high demand for employment created by industry growth and replacement demand across all sectors,” says Mr Robertson. “There are genuine and exciting career opportunities in over 140 trades and services for young people who are willing to ‘earn and learn’. We encourage everyone to visit gotatrade.co.nz and take a good look at the tremendous opportunity these viable career paths offer,” Mr Robertson adds. Got a Trade Week 2016 speaks to school leavers, as well as parents and teachers. More than 75,000 young New Zealanders aged 15-24 years are not currently working, studying or training, accounting for 41% of the country’s unemployed. They are not developing the skills they need to compete in the workforce. “Only 28% of school leavers go to university. Got a Trade Week is about showcasing the opportunities that exist out there for the other 72%,” says Mr Robertson. A media alliance has been formed with Mediaworks and Fairfax Media to spread the word about trades and services training and the investment will also in a marketing campaign across television, radio, print, online and public relations channels. First Maori woman with PhD in engineering from AUT The first Maori woman to get a PhD in engineering at AUT graduated recently. Dr Ngaire Hart is believed to be only the second Maori woman to have the qualification in this field. Dr Hart’s research focused on saving native bees. She developed a model using photos to see if there is a drop in nests at three sites at Parihaka and Mt Tiger in Northland. She found that a significant drop in the number of nests which could be caused by pesticides in the environment, disease, loss of habitat or resource competition with other insects. Dr Hart is now applying for funding for a post-doctoral role to continue her research. Professor Enrico Haemmerle, Head of AUT’s School of Engineering, Computers and Mathematical Sciences, says Ms Hart is an inspiration. “Her bee research demonstrates how personal interests and culture can be combined with academic research to create outcomes of significant value” Her supervisor, Associate Professor of mechanical and production engineering, Loulin Huang, was also proud. “Her background and philosophy teamed with her enthusiasm and stamina was a breath of fresh air in engineering research.” Omron sets up seminars Omron Electronics NZ held a free seminar for both the food and packaging industries in August and will now follow similar sessions held in both Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. The seminars introduce leading edge technology for the automation industry, and demonstrate it in a practical way. Participants are free to ask questions in an informal setting, and thus learn what they need to know. The seminars held to date have attracted large audiences, from a wide range of disciplines. Henry Zhou, general manager of Omron Oceana says, “Judging by the strong reaction, it’s clear that everyone involved with the food processing industry is looking to not only learn about new technologies, but also apply them to keep a step or two ahead of their competitors. “There’s no doubt the close proximity of both Australia and New Zealand to the expanding Asian market presents significant opportunities for food producers,” says Paul Gibb, Omron sales manager for Queensland. “But we need to learn how to manufacture most efficiently, and automation technology is the key to this”. Some of the topics discussed are visual inspection systems, robotics, safety systems and database connections for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The seminar will then show how these technologies can be integrated and how they can help with serialisation and complete traceability of product from paddock to plate.
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