Skill shortages within wood processing will hamper investment and growth

Saw doctors, timber machinists, kiln operators, finger jointers, laminated plant operators and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) experts are just some of the specialist roles within the wood processing and manufacturing industry where difficulties in recruiting suitably trained operators is surfacing. These roles have become highly technical and involve the operation of multi-million dollar machinery.

Without these critical staff, sector growth and investment will be hampered. Adding to the difficulties in recruiting suitable staff is the planned closure of the Waipā Campus – Timber Industry Training Centre, which is the only dedicated training facility in the country to operate a working sawmill and wood manufacturing plant.

On top of this closure, current immigration settings within the wood processing industry for skilled roles means most migrant working Visas are now only for 3-years, with a number of Visas expiring in coming months. Rather than wait, industry is taking the lead in working together to develop solutions.

Though to date, Ministerial and government support for wood processing role and skill changes has been lacking. We can’t do this alone as we need policy changes to be made, with Ministers holding the pen when it comes to adding, for example, skilled roles to the Green List, increasing the length of migrant work visas, and supporting industry training.

We hence are calling on the government to work with us to ensure that we have the necessary policy settings that will enable the retention of a skilled workforce within our industry.