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.

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Last updated on Tuesday 16 August 2016