Businesses all around New Zealand are struggling to find workers in the wake of Covid-19, and the Matakana coast is not immune to the issue.

Businesses in all sectors are having a hard time finding workers, and industries that have previously relied on immigrant workers, like the hospitality industry, are finding it particularly difficult.

Online employment websites report it's a "job-seekers market" with Trade Me data showing over 80,000 job vacancies from April to June and job ads up 25 per cent.

Woody and Kim Richards, owners of The Stables, Smith Bar, and The Warkworth Hotel have felt the fallout from this firsthand.

“A lot of hospitality professionals have left the industry because of Covid, so it's hard to employ skilled talent.

“We have had to spend a lot more time and money in training and had to offer better pay rates across the venues.

“We are also much more willing to employ people from overseas and spend the money on immigration”.

The country has gone from allowing 90,000 migrant workers into the country to just a few thousand. 

Pre-Covid, New Zealand's hospitality industry was made up of between 25-30 per cent of migrant workers. Now, this sits around 15 per cent.

Staff have gone from working minimum hours (as a result of lockdowns) to being overworked and stressed.

In the meantime, Woody and Kim have been working hard to create a great working environment so that personnel stay for long periods and get the skills they deserve. “We are offering apprenticeship programs for New Zealanders and immigration assistance for skilled migrants.”

The trade sector is also struggling to fill roles, seeing a 37 per cent increase in job listings between 2021 and 2019.

Local builder Graeme Garner has noticed a lack of skilled tradesmen in the industry, and people wanting a specific builder or a refurbishment to their home are having to push back project timelines due to a lack of skilled tradies.

Some local trades companies have taken to recruiting workers from outside of the Auckland region, as it is simply too hard to find tradesmen already in the area. 

“Businesses are still finding it quite difficult to find workers, businesses themselves reporting the most difficult period in fact to find both skilled and unskilled workers on record since at least the 70s," Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said in an interview last month.

“What that's highlighting is it's not only difficult for businesses to find a new worker but they're having to hold on really tight to their current workers and that's means wages are becoming a much more important issue.”