Highlights Importance of Investing in Skills

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International Business Owners Survey

Highlights Importance of Investing in Skills

Grant Thornton's International Business Owners Survey shows that New Zealand is facing some of the most severe skill shortages in the world, and is further evidence of the need to increase participation in Industry Training.

"According to the International Business Owners Survey the greatest constraint on expansion for New Zealand businesses is lack of availability of a skilled workforce (50%). This is nearly twice the global average of 28%, and evidence that the skill shortages faced in New Zealand are amongst the most severe in the world", said Darel Hall Executive Director of the ITF.

"The severity of skill shortages in New Zealand is also demonstrated by recent Department of Labour research which investigated the skills situation in 16 trade occupations and found 'genuine skill shortages' in all but one of them.

"Having trained staff with the right skills for the job means they can do a wider range of tasks and take on new responsibilities. This helps to reduce skill shortages and increase productivity.

"A New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report shows that on average, a trainee after industry training is likely to be 5% -20% more productive than they would otherwise have been.

"Embedding a culture of life-long learning is of critical importance if skill shortages are to be tackled. According to the International Labour Organisation, 80% of all persons working in 10 years time are already in the workplace. If we want to advance economically, we have to upskill ourselves and work smarter.

The Government has targeted lifting participation in industry training, setting a goal of 250,000 in industry training by 2007. The Grant Thornton International Business Owners Survey confirms this goal is critical to reducing skill shortages.

ENDS

Formed in 1996, the Industry Training Federation (ITF) is a membership-based organisation representing all 41 Industry Training Organisations (ITOs). The ITF advocates on behalf of its member ITOs to government and works with agencies and sector groups to improve the policy for and delivery of Industry Training.

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