SWNZ Strengthens People Pillar for Global Markets
With ethical employment practices a "hot topic" in key markets, Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) is strengthening its People Pillar.
Four years ago, Sharon and Wayne George decided they would quit the corporate rat-race to travel New Zealand in their nine-metre motorhome.
They hit the road in late 2018, intending to travel and pick up seasonal work such as fruit picking along the way.
But it wasn’t as easy as they thought, and they came across many others in the same boat, typically ‘grey nomads’ and tourists looking for seasonal work, income and somewhere to park the motorhome.
The Georges came up with a solution: Seasonal Staff NZ (SSNZ), a website-based business that helps would-be workers find jobs and employers to advertise for workers.
SSNZ is a membership-based firm with a database that brings both parties together via an interactive map accessed on the website. Blue pins indicate workers, green pins show where the jobs are.
Workers can look for jobs as they travel. Employers can see where workers are located, and the site’s software enables the employers to sort the workers by experience, skills and attributes, or by potential start dates.
Would-be workers can look for jobs without focussing solely on pay rates, and they can note other possible benefits, eg accommodation available, powered parking for motorhomes or camper vans, kitchen/bathroom facilities and wi-fi connections. This means hourly pay rates are not the ‘main thing’ in employers’ quests for good staff.
Businesses typically know their peak staffing numbers, so they can plan and advertise jobs in advance, showing opportunities by location.
SSNZ’s annual employer membership fee is $199 + GST per year/per location for businesses looking for 1-50 staff. (Other job boards typically offer only 30 days advertising.)
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.
More than 300 growers, exporters, researchers, service providers and industry leaders will descend on Queenstown later this month for EXPO 2026, the annual conference for New Zealand’s apple and pear sector.