Mayors And Government Partner To Get More Young People Into Jobs

The Mayors Taskforce for Jobs and the Government have
today signed a formal agreement to work in partnership
together to get more young people into local
jobs.

Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Chair, Mayor Max
Baxter of Ōtorohanga District Council said: “the signing
of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today recognises
the role that local government and in particular, the unique
role that Mayors can play in providing opportunities for
young people to engage in the workforce.”

Minister
of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta says: “Over the last
12 months MTFJ has delivered 1,326 jobs for young people, so
continuing our partnership makes sense.”

“We know
that local needs are often best met by locally-led solutions
and the MTFJ is a great example of this work delivering
outstanding results for almost two decades. By working
together to align and connect our collective resources, we
have provided real opportunities through pathways to
employment for our rangatahi,” said Minister
Mahuta.

The MOU has four key areas of interest, which
the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) see as key
opportunities and challenges for young people when entering
the workforce. These four key areas are driver licencing,
education, health and the importance of rangatahi
mentoring.

The MOU was signed at the 2021 Local
Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Conference in Blenheim by
Mayor Baxter, Minister Mahuta and the Chief Executive of
LGNZ Susan Freeman-Greene.

Other signatories to the
MOU are Minister of Social Development and Employment Hon
Carmel Sepuonloni, Minister of Māori Development Hon Willie
Jackson, Minister for Youth Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan,
Minister of Education Hon Chris Hipkins and the Minister for
Pacific People Hon Aupito William Sio.

“As a
nationwide network of all 67 of New Zealand’s Mayors
centred around youth employment, MTFJ is a credible
organisation with deep ties to local communities and can
bring forward community led solutions to the Government in
regards to how we can work in partnership to make dents in
our countries high youth unemployment figures,” said Mayor
Baxter.

Although the New Zealand economy has responded
well to the economic crises of COVID-19 with the
unemployment rate falling to 4.7 per cent for the March 2021
quarter, signs for young people under the age of 24 have not
been as promising. For the March 2021 quarter, the
seasonally adjusted proportion of people aged 15–24 years
who were not in employment, education, or training (NEET)
rose to 13.1 percent, up from 12.4 percent last
quarter.

Equitable access to driver licencing and
testing for young people remains a significant barrier for
young people when progressing into the workforce, especially
for those living in rural New Zealand where there aren’t
local testing stations. It is estimated that 70 per cent of
entry level jobs require a driver licence and between 70,000
– 90,000 young people currently face barriers to accessing
the system, according to a report from the Auckland
Co-Design Skills Lab.

MTFJ believes that a national
programme should be put in place to see driver testing and
education established in secondary schools for
students.

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