Key points

Key findings of the report are:

• Maori enjoyed above average increases in employment/ decreases in unemployment between 2000 and 2005. But while disparities with non-Maori have reduced, higher than average Maori unemployment rates remain.
• The Bay of Plenty compares unfavourably with the rest of the country in terms of labour market indicators such as the unemployment rate. But it has started to catch up. The Eastern Bay of Plenty is lagging behind the wider Bay of Plenty region in terms of employment growth.
• Ngati Awa rates of employment and unemployment are similar to those for Maori as a whole. But they are better than those for Maori in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and the wider region.
• The number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region has declined in the last three years, but Maori still represent a disproportionate share of those on unemployment benefits in this region.
• Bay of Plenty hourly wage rates are lower than the national average, while worker turnover rates - another possible indicator of workplace quality - are higher than average.
• Compared to all Maori, Ngati Awa has relatively high educational achievement levels. However, several important areas of study in terms of job opportunities, such as engineering and information technology, are not as commonly studied as they are for non-Maori.
• At the national level, the types of capital investments owned by Maori and the skills being developed by Maori appear to be moving in different directions. Capital investment is more focused on the primary sector (e.g. agriculture and forestry), while skill development has been targeted to the services sector.
• In the Eastern Bay of Plenty there appears to be a shortage of lower-skilled workers, in the face of relatively high unemployment rates. This suggests a possible mismatch of required skills and people's capabilities at the lower end of the labour market.
• There was a decline in the number of people employed in the education, and wood and paper industries between 2001 and 2005, while numbers employed in dairy, horticulture and forestry remained steady. In contrast, more people were employed in the accommodation, machinery manufacture, food and beverage, and livestock sectors.
• The outlook in the wood and wood processing, beef and education sectors is for modest employment growth. However, analysts are more upbeat about growth prospects in some parts of the horticulture industry, niche dairy, tourism and social services.
• Several occupational groups were identified in the report as being prominent in the local economy and as being associated with industries that Ngati Awa has a specific interest in. These key occupations include; specialised managers, animal producers, nurses, teachers, caregivers, builders, pulp and paper workers, various trades workers, machinery mechanics and social workers. Most of these occupations appear to be in shortage nationally.
• Most of these key occupation groups experienced above average employment growth between 2000 and 2005, except pulp and paper workers, who experienced a decline in employment. This is a concern as a high proportion of pulp and paper workers Maori are, and a relatively high share of all employees in the local economy work in the pulp and paper businesses.
• Nationally, about half of those working in the key occupations in 2001 held post-secondary school qualifications. However, only about 25% of Eastern Bay of Plenty Ngati Awa, and 16% of the Eastern Bay of Plenty Maori working age population, had post-secondary school qualifications. This highlights the need for an increase in educational qualifications if Ngati Awa want to move into these key occupations.
• Generally, all of the key occupation groups have proportionately fewer Maori in them compared with the national average of about 11% in 2001.
• Four occupations experienced growth in job vacancies in Eastern Bay of Plenty between 2001 and 2005; caregiver, social worker, electrician and machinery mechanic. This may be due to either an increase in the number of such jobs available in the region or a decline in the number of people qualified for these positions.
• Training courses in the Bay of Plenty have been run recently or are currently being run for most high-demand occupations. There may be scope for a larger number of relevant courses to be run locally.
• Compared to other studies, the strength of this project's outcomes lies in the detail of the analysis (which is beyond the scope of the key points highlighted here). In order to track the results of this project on an ongoing basis, a range of labour market information tools have been developed on a trial basis. Additional tools are in development.