Gore marketed as an overseas experience alternative
Wednesday, 3 November 2021
Gore and the Clutha District are the only southern councils to take part in a nationwide marketing campaign to fix worker shortages in rural areas.
The Think Rural campaign, driven by Local Government New Zealand’s Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) with support from the Ministry of Social Development, has signed up 18 rural councils to attract young people from cities to work in the regions.
The campaign has the aim of filling 1150 rural jobs with young people looking to experience a “new way of life” as an alternative to OE given international border closures.
Gore District Council mayor Tracy Hicks, in a statement, hopes the campaign will attract a “legion of keen and hardworking new recruits” to Gore.
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“Whether you are into arts, sports or love the outdoors, it’s all on offer in the Gore District. We are the event capital of Southland and the centre of the south, with New Zealand treasures such as Queenstown and Central Otago only 90 minutes away,” he says.
In 2019, the council set up a new growth advisory committee to focus on in identifying opportunities for economic growth, with the ultimate aim of stimulating population in the district.
The council says in its Gore District the population is about 12,400.
MTFJ national programme manager Noa Woolloff said the scheme had come at the perfect time for the district, with worker shortages currently being experienced across Southland.
“The council in Gore recently did a local business survey which showed that 80 per cent of local businesses were looking to employ additional staff in the coming months,” he said.
“Rural New Zealand has a lot of offerings, and I think a lot of young New Zealanders, previously before Covid-19, were pretty fast to jump ship to do their OE in Europe or experience overseas without exploring their backyard.”
Funding up to $500,000 was available across two tranches to each of the rural council’s involved.
The first tranche was available after council’s submitted proposals on how they would utilise funds to attract and retain workers to the area, with the second tranche available after 25 young people or Covid-19 displaced workers received sustainable employment.
The scheme had received funding to run until June 30, 2022 with the possibility of extension, Woolloff said
Other councils participating in the campaign are Ōpōtiki, Ōtorohanga, Central Hawke’s Bay, Chatham Islands, Ruapehu, Waimate, Westland, Wairoa, Hurunui, Tararua, Grey, Rangitikei, Clutha, Hauraki, Mackenzie and Buller