In most cases we’d be happy with 94.4%

I recall once, just once, getting a grade in the 90th percentile, and I’m pretty sure it was in PE. It was seen as a win. And the general view is if we’re hovering around in the 90% range we’re doing alright. 

This week’s unemployment rate came in, and the focus has rightly been on the 5.6%. Not for a minute am I pretending this is a great picture, or the full picture. However, today’s point is on wiring. 

When it comes to our human wiring, we can blame the sabre-tooth tiger. Negativity bias is hardcoded, it keeps us alive, it spots the threat, reminds us of the threat, because for most of history that's what kept us alive. Really good for survival. Terrible for reading any news, shocking for reading unemployment data. 

Recently a lot of reference has been made to past unemployment rates being higher, 1991 and unemployment reached 11.2%. We’d come off the peak of Sir Mark Todd riding Charisma into Mt Smart Stadium to kick off the 1990 Commonwealth Games.  The 2008 GFC then pushed unemployment into the high 6% range. 

But these are all memories, and the present is where life happens. Where we’re sitting today is the highest unemployment rate since 2015. So, what’s the upside? 

The south is up. 

The South Island economy is booming because it produces lots and lots of things that people buy. One-third of New Zealand's total exports. Canterbury's unemployment rate has fallen to 3.6%, its lowest in over two years, with job ads up 18% against a 7% national rise. We all know it hasn’t been this way forever, so long may it continue. 

And with 40% of the population forecast to live north of the Waikato by 2050, the pull the South is having now may just mix that up, as it’s providing opportunities for Kiwis to head overseas – in this case the Cook Strait. 

Food, glorious food. 

"Minister Todd McClay reported that one in every seven people work in food and fibre. And the sector is having one of its strongest runs in years, with export revenue forecast to hit a record $64.3 billion this year. That's milk, meat, fruit and seafood, it’s not just the raw product moving. It's also innovation to evolve. With new aquaculture frontiers in open ocean farming, mussel oils and extracts, premium salmon, science coming out of Nelson turning shellfish into pharmaceuticals. 

And many of these jobs are outside of the main New Zealand centres, again it’s an encouraging way to build our population diversity, the jobs flow, then the teachers, and GP’s and broader community infrastructure follow. 

It’s not just what comes from the land and sea. It's what we build with our minds, too. New Zealand's tech sector now employs more than 119,000 people, contributes $23.8 billion to GDP, and it’s well published elsewhere what’s being built. 

Necessity is the mother of innovation. And youth unemployment needs a mum. 

For 15 to 24-year-olds, unemployment is at 17.3%, the highest level in more than 30 years. And there’s some awesome employer-led work from the likes of Fonterra and their early careers and Careers in Dairy programmes, Naylor Love cadetships, St John Cadet Programmes and many others. It’s also sparked an awaking, with Academies and pathway programmes opening up. 

Earn as You Learn just expanded out of Waikato into four new regions, Christchurch included. Community Job Coaching now has 4,000 places on offer, with a $1,000 bonus for young people who land a job and stay in it. The Mangōpare Air New Zealand Pilot Cadetship launched, providing pathways. The continued efforts in the Automotive Academy established in response to the industry's need for mechanics across Auto Super Shoppe workshops. Offering both hands-on mechanical skills and professional workplace habits. 

These are just a few examples, there’ll be more as we realise the critical need to provide pathways for the future, that will shape our future. We must believe the best is yet ahead and find ways to engage and attract the future. 

None of this is written to diminish how challenging it is out there right now; for candidates job-hunting in a tight market, for businesses innovating, making calls that’s all real. I started this piece by blaming the sabre-tooth tiger for why we're wired to only see the threat. The flip side of that wiring is just as true: we're just as capable of seeing the way to avoid and counter the threat. Academies, institutes, employers and entire sectors are already making moves, not waiting for percentages to improve, but moving now to change the percentages in the future. 

Resourcefulness is something we’ve always been good at in New Zealand, that and having the right people in your corner can make all the difference. So, if you’re an employer looking to look at things differently, Haines could be the right people for you. 

Written by: Hamish Price