A working group set up prior to Covid-19 has been resurrected in an attempt to ease issues facing employers and workers in the district.

Mahi Queenstown Lakes (MahiQL) is a collaboration between Lake Wānaka Tourism, Ignite Wānaka, Destination Queenstown Lakes, the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, and MBIE, with a focus on attracting and retaining talented workers within the district. 

“Our vision is a thriving business community in Queenstown Lakes driven by talented people from all over New Zealand and the world who love living and working here,” Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Sharon Fifield said.

“It speaks to the employee experience. We want them to have a good experience and if they leave they leave as advocates.”

Sharon said workforce shortages continue to feature in feedback from the business community and MahiQL is looking at what can be done to help alleviate some of these shortages and at what employers can do.

“Many employers are paying well above living wage, so it is a matter of what else they can do to attract talent and retain them,” she said.

In the quarterly Queenstown Lakes labour market snapshot (December 2022) commissioned by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, economist Benje Patterson said wage growth across the district is running at nine percent compared to 6.4 percent nationally.

“Unfortunately, there are limits to the influence wages can play in attracting workers,” Benje said. 

“Other factors, such as an acute rental housing shortage, have also impeded workers’ ability to accept jobs in the local area.”

Sharon said the data Benje is producing is invaluable and many employers are stepping up and looking at how they provide accommodation saying that some employers are taking on head leases where they have the ability to sublease the property.

Related: Worker accommodation advice for businesses

“It is important to recognise that housing has a big impact on attracting and retaining workers, however the workforce strategy can’t fix the housing problem,” Sharon said. 

“They are very much related but housing is a bigger beast in itself.”

This week MahiQL is running employer focus groups in Wānaka and Queenstown to hear from the business community for input into the workforce strategy. They also plan to run employee and support organisation focus groups.

Sharon said anyone wanting to get involved to share ideas can get in touch with [email protected]

MahiQL is aiming to have the strategy finalised and ready to share in June.

PHOTO: Supplied