More than 2600 people came off their benefits to do seasonal work, with just a fraction of them taking up incentives offered by a government work scheme.
Figures released by the Ministry of Social Development show that 2631 people came off a benefit to go into seasonal work between November 15 last year and February 28.
As of last week, just 195 of those had started work through the Seasonal Workers Scheme which offered up to $200 a week for accommodation costs and a $1000 incentive payment for workers who completed jobs of six weeks or longer.
The scheme was announced by Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni in November last year.
The number of people coming off benefits to take up seasonal work was higher than the 2346 over the same period a year earlier, and they had certainly provided relief to the industry, said Yummy Fruit Company general manager Paul Paynter, who is based in Hawke’s Bay.
“I’d say a few hundred of those would have come off the benefit in Hawke’s Bay," he said.
Paynter said the Seasonal Workers Scheme had made a modest difference “but certainly hasn’t been a solution”.
He said the industry was “in the thick of it now” in terms of picking, and while the number of pickers was better than he'd expected, he reckoned the crop in Hawke’s Bay would be down by about 15 to 20 per cent.
That was due to a combination of smaller fruit size and a shortage of pickers, he said. “Fruit will get left behind for sure.”
He said the biggest hindrance to finding pickers in Hawke’s Bay had been a lack of housing.
“It's really held people back. I’ve had conversations with many about the poor quality of accommodation, or the fact they can’t get accommodation at all,” Paynter said.
“I think we'd have had the crop picked if there wasn’t an accommodation crisis.”
Business manager of horticultural contracting company Thornhill, Nick Bibby said his company had employed several people who had been on a benefit, but there weren’t enough to cover demand.
“It’s pretty dire for some orchards. We’ve really only been able to just keep up with existing clients. I’ve had some desperate calls. I had one from a guy who'd been expecting 20 pickers but only two showed up. He was in tears. There are a lot of stories like that,” he said.
The Ministry’s acting group manager employment Hugh Miller said the number of people leaving a benefit to take up seasonal work was probably underestimated as not all were coded the same way.
“Of those who’ve started working through this scheme, 156 have received the incentive payment, which can include travel, clothing and work gear, and 99 have received accommodation assistance,” he said.
The total cost of the scheme to date had been $128,850.69.
“The NZSWS removes some of these financial barriers and enables people to relocate more easily as we respond to labour shortages with fewer overseas workers. It is one of a number of ways the Ministry supports Jobseekers into seasonal employment,” Miller said.
The number of people taking up the scheme was “running slightly lower than expected” but “as we’ve yet to enter seasonal peaks in Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty, and Nelson/Marlborough we expect the number of participants to rise,” he said.
“It’s very pleasing to see job seekers proactively taking up seasonal work without support from MSD.This is testimony to people’s willingness to move to where jobs are and to take a chance on something new,” he said.
Earlier this month 100 people, formerly on jobseeker support, started working at JR’s Orchards in Wairarapa.
“Forty of those relocated from Palmerston North, Horowhenua, and the Kapiti Coast for seasonal work. Another recent example in the South Island is a Greymouth couple who relocated 300 kilometres to Riwaka for seasonal work at Thomas Bros Orchards,” Miller said.