Co-chairs mihi

Te mihi a Ngā Toihau Takirua

Kahungunu Mana! Kahungunu Tangata! Kahungunu Iwi! Kahungunu ki te ao mārama e! Nei rā te mihi ki a koutou ngā rangatira. Tihei Kahungunu e!

He maimai aroha ki ngā mate tuatini kua whetūrangitia. Hoki wairua atu rā ki tua o Paerau, whakangaro mōnenehu atu ki te huinga o te Kahurangi, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai.

Ka hoki mai ki a tātou, ngā uri, ngā waihotanga e pupuri nei i te mauri o ngā kōrero o tuawhakarere. Nā rātou, ngā mātua me ngā tūpuna i whakapōhatutia ngā kōrero me ōna tikanga ki roto i te ngākau, me te wairua o te hunga ora e pae nei, kia kore ai e ngaro. Tūturu ā-whiti, whakamaua kia tina! Tina! Haumi e, hui e, taiki e!

We are delighted to present the Hawke’s Bay Regional Skills Leadership Group (RSLG) Regional Workforce Plan (RWP). Our board has worked collaboratively across the region to understand the skills needed to build a workforce for the future. This marks the beginning of a shared understanding to the labour market needs of the region through a Co-Governance model with Iwi, Mana Whenua, Industry, Economic Development groups, local and central government and our community.

We are about improving the wellbeing of our people and supporting our whānau to improve access to education, training, sustainable employment opportunities and career paths. Listening to the needs of Industry, business and whānau has highlighted many challenges, differences and opportunities to ensure we build a platform to meet the growing demands the labour market has presented us.

Our purpose is to strengthen our region’s labour market and to identify education and training needs across the region. It draws on Te Tiriti principles, experiences of kaimahi, employers, education providers, students, rangatahi and whānau. The RWP is intended to support and facilitate ongoing discussions and actions across the region and align elements of our community that need more support and cultural interventions to build sustainable employment and career outcomes.

Our workforce is changing, and the demographics tell us that we need to focus on rangatahi, wāhine and those not engaged in the labour market to adapt to different roles, hours of work, varying workplaces and skillsets. Working with schools is a key focus and we have identified school transitions as a pathway to building our future workforce and filling the labour market demands coming our way.

The RSLG have an important role to play in the broader reform of vocational education, being able to understand the skills required by industry and then combine this information with the needs of community and the programmes of learning available through local providers.

The RWP is an important first step in prioritising skill gaps for the region and making recommendations around what training provision would benefit industry and community. The need to prioritise is vital to the long-term vision of the Hawke’s Bay RSLG and progressively the RWP will work with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Workforce Development Councils, Industry and Community to focus on broader regional issues.

In collaboration with Mana Whenua, Matariki and the new Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Agency we will work across the region to build, develop and accelerate a strong future focussed workforce. We will continually review, update and adapt to changing labour market conditions and future growth industries. Building stronger pathways, programs and working collaboratively with our people will be critical to ensuring transformational change meets our future labour market needs and workforce development requirements.

Nō reira, mokori anō te tangi ki ō tātau tīpuna kua wehe atu i tēnei ao, ā, ka mihi ki te mātauranga me ngā taonga i waiho mai e rātau,

Nō reira, haere, haere, haere atu rā.

Erin Simpson and Tania Eden – Co Chairs RSLG Hawke’s Bay