Business News

New Zealand’s lift out of recessionary times could be under-way by the end of the year. And manufacturing must play a major part in that economic shift. So too should the nation’s ITO sector if the skill-set amongst our workforce is to provide the expertise needed to boost productivity, and ultimately, export earnings in decades to come. That’s the word from Dr Ganesh Nana, Chief Economist of Business and Economic Research Ltd (BERL), who believes New Zealand will soon be on a path back to economic growth – thanks in part to the recession remaining mainly in the metropolitan areas of the country. However, Dr Nana believes there must first be an investment boost of 50-100% into industry training to ensure long-term development in workforce up-skilling, investment that hinges on more government leadership and funding, along with greater commitment from manufacturers. Dr Nana says the proposed $300 million investment in further training over five years is simply not enough for New Zealand to gain the economic momentum it needs to grow the economy and compete more closely with first world countries. With over 250,000 Kiwis having, at best, a level one qualification, he is adamant ITOs have a key role to play in transforming the New Zealand economy. “When you consider the manufacturing sector has not put any more jobs into the New Zealand economy in the past ten years, and in fact has reduced the number of jobs from 276,000 to 268,000, there simply must be a drive to turn this stagnation around and it can be done,” says Dr Nana. “Outside of the manufacturing sector, there have been 400,000 new jobs created in the New Zealand workforce in the same period. There is no reason why manufacturing can’t, and shouldn’t, be growing also but it is critical we […]