Trade and Future Workforce
Facilitator:
- Professor Ted Zorn - Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean, Massey University Business School
Panelists:
- Dr. Jackie Blue - Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Human Rights Commission
- Barbara Cavanagh - Principal, Albany Senior High
- Paul Gestro - Head of Asia Desk, Institutional Banking, BNZ
- Professor Jarrod Haar - Professor in Management and Director of the Centre of Māori Business Research, Massey University
Key Points:
- For a growing, vibrant economy, we need diverse human resources, in terms of age, gender, national origin
- General agreement that a strategy for inclusion (not just diversity) is important
- Businesses need to be educated on how to use these diverse human resources
- Many older workers want challenge and satisfying work, not just going quietly into retirement
- Also, new migrants need training and empowerment so that they can thrive (and not be taken advantage of)
- The “survival skills” needed by today’s knowledge workers (eg, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, agility/adaptability, etc) won’t happen under old education models
- North Auckland needs an education plan developed and supported by secondary and tertiary education institutions, businesses and local government to develop the workforce of the future
- The Gateway programme (http://www.tec.govt.nz/Funding/Fund-finder/Gateway/) is working well
- Similar programmes – eg, Maori cadets – are needed to provide opportunities, and workplace preparedness
Businesses need to invest in R&D to create high value jobs and create the high tech economy we seek.
