Fencing businesses struggle for staff: 'Young people don't want to do physical work'

Tuesday, 29 January 2019

Fencing firms say they offer good money and rewarding work, but they can't find anyone to fill their jobs.

Debbie White, of White Fencing, based south of Auckland, said the growth of fencing businesses around New Zealand was being restrained by a lack of workers.

She said fencing would offer a good rate of pay, starting at about $18,50 an hour and moving through to up to $35 with experience.

It usually came with on-the-job training, good working conditions and good work hours, she said.

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The requirements of the role were that people were fit, reliable, had transport to get to work and the ability to learn and work with others.

Fencing would suit people who enjoyed physical work and being outdoors, she said.

White said jobs involving manual labour were often thought of as being low-wage.

'But as an industry, we are actually offering quite good wages and working conditions.'

One 18-year-old staff member who left school at 16 was now earning $26 an hour.

'Fencing always gets overlooked.'

That left her business turning away work, she said, and struggling to achieve growth. Advertisements placed on Trade Me, Seek and Facebook received little interest.

Brad Joines, president of the Fencing Contractors Association, said it was a problem across the fencing sector.

'It's hard, physical work. Young people don't want to do physical work.'

He said there were plenty of hours' work available, so someone who wanted to join the industry and work more than 40 hours a week to earn extra money could easily do so.

'People just don't want to do it… We are on the tail end of a generation of people who were told to go to university, don't do physical work. That doesn't help.'

He said some employers could also improve their ability to hire by focusing on the conditions they offered staff.