The Influencers: Alison Adams

Economic booster

The biggest challenge facing Christchurch businesses is the labour shortage. This is one of the economic factors contributing to inflation, which we are all experiencing.

ChristchurchNZ has been working on two initiatives to help reduce the impact of the shortages.

Last week we launched the PowerUp campaign, designed to inform, inspire, and connect women on their career journeys, with a focus on those who have been unemployed for extended periods of time.

Following a labour market hui we held with local Canterbury businesses at the end of 2021, women were identified as one group who are currently underemployed and underutilised so PowerUp was designed to support women into work.

The insights of that industry hui also heavily influenced the delivery of an advocacy paper around the skills shortage.

Alongside the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, we made the case for more skilled migration that focused on the most severely affected industry sectors — manufacturing and hi-tech.

These two sectors are strategically important due to their significant number of high-value jobs, export revenue, growth potential and contribution to regional prosperity.

The advocacy paper called on Government to approve 5500 additional skilled migrant visas in those sectors over the next 12 months.

Having shown the need, we recruited and supported industry spokespeople as we made our pitch to business reporters, resulting in national stories in NBR, RNZ, and BusinessDesk, which may yet move the Government’s position.