New NZMA Trades Campus to Address Skills Shortage
10 April 2018 – Today, the Minister for Building and Construction and Associate Education Minister, The Hon. Jenny Salesa, MP opened
the newly refurbished 8000 square metres New Zealand Management Academies (NZMA) Trades Campus, on Great South Road,
Mount Wellington, Auckland.
Fitted out with brand new classrooms, workshops, and lab, the purpose-built site will be a hub for students wanting to
learn trades skills in South Auckland.
After the official pōwhiri, the Minister said, “I am impressed with the vision shown by New Zealand Management Academies
to open this facility to train more builders, painters, plumbers and electricians. Last year thousands of NZMA graduates
and students were placed into jobs. I have no doubt there will be a high demand for your trades students. I look forward
to seeing more Pacific and Maori tradespeople graduate from here, and I congratulate the Academy for being part of the
Housing Solution.”
With demand growing for skilled workers across the industry, the campus will be used by hundreds of students and staff.
Programmes are available in Construction, Electrical Engineering, Painting and Plastering, Plumbing, Gasfitting and
Drain Laying, and Youth Guarantee Level 2 all in a single NZMA hub. It will add to NZMA’s enviable reputation for
delivering work-ready skills, from top level qualified tutors who know the industry inside-out.
NZMA Chief Executive, Mark Worsop says, “With New Zealand’s current construction boom there is real demand for skilled
tradespeople, and we can address this shortfall with quality training and job placement.”
He added, “We’re really proud to be developing young people in these important and booming trade arenas. This campus
will be an important training hub in Auckland, and we’re working closely with construction industry companies to place
our graduates in sustainable employment”.
There is no better way to learn about the construction industry than to do it yourself, and NZMA is giving people
building experience they’d find hard to get anywhere else. NZMA also have a team of Careers specialists who assist
students in finding the right job.
According to a recent Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) report, construction investment growth is
set to peak in 2020 and will increase requirements for construction-related occupations until at least the end of 2022.
Employers are facing an increasing skills shortage with overall construction staff demand in New Zealand set to increase
by 11 per cent by 2022. This means around 56,000 new employees will be needed with approximately half of that demand
centring around Auckland’s construction industry. (reference https://www.michaelpage.co.nz/advice/market-insights/industry-reports/new-zealand-s-construction-boom-means-big-demand-talent
Every area of construction is now mostly considered a skills shortage. From labourers to carpenters, plumbers to
electricians, site supervisors to quantity surveyors, and engineers – skilled staff are hard to find.
With an easily accessible NZMA Trades Campus in South Auckland, the entire community will benefit. With strong numbers
of Maori and Pasifika students, as well as those who have recently moved to New Zealand, getting a head-start on their
careers will be easier with a campus of this calibre.
ENDS