logs4jobs Media Release – for immediate use
“Women are the answer to New Zealand’s skilled worker shortage.” Pamela Bell, CEO PrefabNZ.
“Wood is going to be bigger than dairy – more sustainable and provide the jobs for our future.” Says Pamela.
PrefabNZ, in collaboration with Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts, BCITO and CareersNZ, has produced the logs4jobs video to:
- Raise the awareness of young people, especially females, of the work opportunities
- Normalise females in Primary Industry, Manufacturing, Design and Construction
- Alert employers to the ability and value of females
- Highlight the range of rewarding jobs involved in turning logs into houses
- Demonstrate that these roles are high-skill and involve technology
- Demonstrate that our natural resources – forestry, can become a higher value product by undergoing innovative
construction methods
Weblink: http://www.prefabnz.com/Projects/Detail/logs4jobs-filling-the-skilled-worker-shortage
NZ Skilled worker shortage: Number of new people needed by 2020 in Building and Construction: 64,000 (Source: GotATrade)
Statistics New Zealand estimates a growth in employment of 107,800 jobs in primary industries, manufacturing and
construction by 2023
Women are the untapped workforce able to fill the future skilled worker shortage. Under worked and underutilized, women
make excellent employees – they are more safety conscious and more productive. (Destination Trades)
New Zealand is experiencing an affordable Housing crisis – 30,000 more houses are required each year. Rural New Zealanders are the underdogs to the development of our cities.
Young people can’t afford to buy a home, start families or start businesses. Everyday NZ exports its rural resources -
raw logs - to China. The valuable logs are gone, our timber mills are closing. Manufacturing the logs into panels or
components of houses adds value, profit and creates jobs. This is innovative construction - turning logs into houses
utilising digital technology and creating work.
“Kiwis have been making prefabricated houses for over 200 years, we were one of the first, we could be one of the best”
says Pamela. “These puzzle pieces can fit neatly together, let’s turn logs into jobs…grow a manufacturing industry that
turns dumb logs into smart houses.”
New Zealand has a shortage of skilled workers and this problem will only get worse. It is the highly-skilled and skilled jobs within these areas which will see the biggest growth. Technical operators,
Business Managers, Architects, Planners, Designers, Surveyors, Engineers.
BCITO is undertaking a new three-year research project - how to get more women into trades, jointly commissioned with
Ministry for Women and Ako Aotearoa, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence
PrefabNZ is a non-profit membership organisation that informs, educates and advocates for innovation and excellence in
offsite design and construction in New Zealand www.prefabnz.com