He kupu takamua nā ngā Hoa-toihau | A foreword from our Co-Chairs
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Kia ora tatou
In June 2022 the Nelson Tasman Regional Workforce Plan was launched for the purpose of helping our region better understand, coordinate, and respond to our labour market challenges. As Co-chairs of the Nelson Tasman Regional Skills Leadership Group (RSLG) we would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks and gratitude to our RSLG members, our community and our business sector for your insights, perseverance, and willingness to contribute to the ongoing improvement of our region’s labour market.
During the last year the Nelson Tasman RSLG has been on a continuous learning journey. We have sought out our regional stakeholders to converse and listen to gain a better understanding of our labour market challenges. Nelson Tasman has strong collaboration across both economic and social development, highlighted by the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy as the unifying regional strategy to address those issues. That regional collaboration has continued to strengthen over the last year, with an increasing number of shared regional plans and actions (e.g., the Nelson Tasman Regeneration Plan released by the Kōkiri Forum). The RSLG work reflects that collaboration, focusing our regional workforce planning, regional actions, and national advice to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), on sectors identified as having the most opportunity to address our regional economic challenges and enhance wellbeing.
Nelson Tasman Regeneration Plan(external link) — Kōkiri Forum
Alongside several challenges recognised in the 2022 Regional Workforce Plan (RWP) we identified opportunities to work with sectors, and to understand the challenges associated with our older worker demographic and the opportunities of our rangatahi workforce. We recognise the significant challenges with productivity and wages in certain sectors, which along with seasonality exacerbate workforce issues. We continue to work collaboratively to ensure a more productive, resilient Nelson Tasman.
In the year ahead we will continue gathering our regional economic, industry and community plans into a wider workforce development framework, to focus on developing the skills we need to build the resilience and wellbeing of our communities. We will continue working collectively with Te Tauihu Iwi; our regional partners; our education and vocational training providers; and with the Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) as they develop qualifications and training that meets the needs of our regional industries.
We will also continue to be your voice in providing advice to central government about what is needed in our region to enhance our workforce development, in a way that supports our regional economic development direction and meets our aspirations and the wellbeing of our communities.
Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to working together with you on this journey.
Justin Carter, Iwi Co-Chair
Ali Boswijk, Co-Chair