skills acTion Plan for The food and Beverage secTor - Department of ...

Priority 3: Attractive Careers
High Quality Workplaces and Career Opportunities
• The Department of Labour will contract a stock-take of current initiatives in the areas of improving the
attractiveness of careers in this sector and promoting opportunities offered. The findings of the stock-take
will be shared with industry.
• Involve unions in developing solutions including the establishment of industry standards and the uptake of
technology and other productivity improvements to assist in improving productivity, wages and conditions and
therefore recruitment and retention.
• Tailor education and training provision for the food and beverage sector to include an increased focus on
developing management and leadership capability, including the development of mechanisms to grow this
capability over time.
PhD Integration
• The Science and Technology Adoption project has considered the impact of the presence or absence of PhD
students (or such qualified staff), on businesses’ ability to adopt science and technology.
Over the next few months it is proposed that the Skills
Working Group continue meeting to monitor progress
and completion of three remaining major projects (ie.
productivity study, the science and technology adoption
research and the career of choice stock-take) and
provide a progress report against the Skills Action Plan.
The progress report will also include an outline of how
implementation of the Skills Action Plan will be monitored
going forward.
IMPLEMENTATION
A new industry–led group called the Food and Beverage
Skills and Training Action Group (STAG) is proposed to
be established to oversee implementation of the Skills
Action Plan.
STAG will consist of the relevant education and training
organisations, industry and government agencies. It is
anticipated STAG will have a role in collaboration among
food and beverage education and training providers to
achieve more focused provision, by improving the level of
knowledge about the workforce in the food and beverage
sector (eg. forecasting and areas of short supply and high
demand); encouraging workplace best practice initiatives
(eg. productivity and foundation learning); and increasing
alignment between provision of food and beverage
qualifications and actual job opportunities within the
sector.
There is a general willingness of food and beverage related
ITOs, unions and government agencies to work more
closely together.
STAG will take issues to Skill New Zealand (a TEC supported
initiative involving the New Zealand Council of Trade
Unions, Business New Zealand and government agencies)
as needed to promote awareness about potential training
options and the need for industry support.