One of the Restaurant Association’s focus areas in 2017 has been to work even more closely with Government as an influencer on policy.
Recently it’s been particularly important for us to strongly represent the hospitality industry’s viewpoint in light of challenges from a number of areas to the way we do business. Immigration policy, food safety, sale & supply of alcohol and employment come to mind.
The hospitality industry is a $9 billion per year industry that employs over 120,000 employees across 17,000 businesses, so policy makers need to stop and listen to what the industry has to say. We are a powerhouse of New Zealand’s economy! So with just a few months until the NZ elections, the Association is calling on all of the major parties to consider sensible policy that will ensure that our hospitality businesses remain viable, today and into the future.
The Association has sourced the opinion of our members to find the common challenges for the hospitality industry throughout New Zealand and these are the things that we want to see as a focus for any incoming Government – policies that encourage our continuing success.
The following aspirations are central to all of our political discussions.
1. We want better recognition for the significant impact that hospitality has on New Zealand’s economy and the integral part that it plays in tourism.
Government needs to invest in initiatives that are specifically targeted to support the growth and recognition of this industry. Our vibrant hospitality scene is a vital component to attracting tourists to New Zealand as more of our businesses gain recognition internationally for their innovation and expertise. Help us to capitalise on additional opportunities to promote our achievements on a global stage.
2. We are working hard, however even more needs to be done to encourage hospitality as a career pathway of choice.
The Restaurant Association welcomes the opportunity to work on further initiatives that inspire young New Zealanders to choose hospitality.
The hospitality industry is one of the country’s largest employers and due to the burgeoning nature of the industry it has also been noted that a great deal more workers will need to enter the industry between now and 2020. To meet employee demand there is a continued need for quality training and education.
The Restaurant Association works on a number of initiatives that promote recruitment and retention in hospitality. One of these programmes is the Association’s ProStart programme. In partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and created through consultation with the hospitality industry, ProStart introduces students to the basics of
hospitality. We train beneficiaries over four weeks to ready them for work (or get them back into work) in hospitality, with an overall goal of employment upon completion. Trainee participants gain valuable insight into a career in the hospitality industry and acquire key skills for entering employment and further education in our industry. The programme also assists Government to achieve its objective to reduce unemployment rates.
Attracting more New Zealanders into the industry is vital to our future sustainability. Further investment in platforms like the ProStart initiative are needed to ensure broader reach to those joining, or re-joining, the workforce. The Restaurant Association welcomes the opportunity to implement further projects, with our overall objective being to encourage more employees into hospitality as a career pathway of choice.
3. Despite the policy makers argument to the contrary, the hospitality industry currently suffers from a labour shortage.
We rely on skilled workers from overseas to fill the void. When no suitable New Zealanders are available strategies that ensure migrant workers can continue to be a part of the hospitality mix are important. The Restaurant Association welcomes the opportunity to work with Government on employment policy that recognises the industry’s needs.
As outlined above, the Association is committed to work on initiatives that fulfil Government’s objectives around attracting more New Zealanders to work in hospitality; however, currently migrant workers are an important part of our workforce. Immigration policy should enable the efficient functioning of the labour market and not disadvantage hospitality businesses. The industry is predominantly composed of small owner / operator businesses which are not equipped with HR departments to manage complicated, time consuming and costly administrative processes.
Ultimately a temporary work policy must not inhibit business growth and competitiveness and we will continue to advocate for a more sensible approach to immigration policy.
Whatever outcomes we see as a result of the September election the Restaurant Association will be strongly advocating on the industry’s behalf for strategies that address the needs of our flourishing industry and promote economic and business growth. If you’d like to call us to discuss these points further phone 0800 737 827.