Waikato Business News News | February 7, 2024

18 FEBRUARY 2024
Covid’s disabling sting
Disappearing work contracts spell tough times for disability employment
agencies. Viv Posselt talks to one of them, Achievement House in Cambridge.
Ideally,
however, we
would like to
have enough
regular
incoming work
to ensure
everyone is
busy and
engaged all
day…able
to feel that
they are
contributing
members
of the
community.”
Achievement House manager Neil Fynn and his assistant Shelby McClelland hope
2024 bring more work contracts.
Jeremy Piercy of Hamilton seals metal rods into plastic tubes.
Achievement House is
feeling the post-Covid
pinch as a drop in the
number of contracts impact
on its ability to provide a
steady level of employment
for people with disabilities.
It has always been
something of a struggle, says
manager Neil Fynn, but the
post-pandemic disruptions
has exacerbated the problem.
He said several contracts
had ended in the past few
years, and he wants to make
2024 all about bringing new
ones on board. The reasons
they fall away are not always
made clear, he added. They
lost a major contract in 2022
as a firm was bought out by
an international player who
closed it and moved offshore,
while others were lost to
post-pandemic changes
made to the way companies
operate.
Whatever the reason,
the result for Achievement
House, and for other facilities
like it, is a shrinking and
unpredictable workload with
which to keep their staff fully
occupied on a regular basis.
Fynn said Achievement
House has more than 40
people on its books.
“Between 23 to 25 are
here on any given day, but
we now find there are times
when there is simply not
enough work for them to do.
When that happens, they can
choose to either stay here
and do something of their
own, or they can go home,”
he said.
“Ideally, however, we
would like to have enough
regular incoming work to
ensure everyone is busy and
engaged all day…able to feel
that they are contributing
members of the community.”
Achievement House is
one of nine New Zealand
disability enterprises
that offer employment
opportunities to people
with a range of disabilities.
They come from around the
region, choosing to work
the days and hours that best
align with their lifestyle.
Because of the range of
disabilities they have, the
tasks they do are varied, with
some being understandably
limited, Fynn said.
They specialise in the
assembly, collation, labelling
and packaging of small,
lightweight components
for various industries, and
contract arrangements can
either be for one-offs or longterm.
“Where the rest of the
working world increases its
use of mechanisation, we
are exactly the opposite. We
need tasks that are as labour
intensive as possible…
our aim is to provide our
staff with work they can
do within their abilities.
They do hand-assembled,
repetitive tasks that fulfil
a crucial component in the
manufacturing process, with
minimal use of machinery.
“We don’t operate as
your standard commercial
workplace. We must
accommodate the different
requirements our staff
bring, which means we
are very time-tolerant
with our workforce. Our
quality control, however, is
extremely rigid… there is no
leeway given because we are
a disability organisation.”
Much of the short-term
work they have done over the
years has segued into larger
contracts, some of them for
well-known companies with
international links.
They do work for awardwinning
company Shoof
International, working on
components for animal
husbandry products such
as leg straps and the like.
Other projects have come
from Houston-based MRC
Global, a leading global
distributor of pipes, vales,
PVC fittings and the like that
has a presence in Hamilton.
Also on board is Holdfast
in Hamilton, now operating
under Soudal ownership,
as well as Rukuhia-based
Smiths Elements & Controls,
and NZ Industrial Fittings
out of Rotorua.
The advantages to
companies are many, Fynn
said. By outsourcing to
Achievement House the sort
of work that would normally
be done using a costly
robotic system or a workers’
production line, companies
can avoid having to factor
in recruitment and training,
or HR issues. Plus, many of
today’s firms seek a strategic
‘add-on’ that reflects a
philanthropic side – it is
an arrangement of mutual
benefit and one he hopes to
tap into.
“What is often not
recognised in our case is
that we are a serious notfor-profit
enterprise whose
sole purpose is to create and
provide work for disabled
persons. We fill an important
function for all sorts of
industries and can be utilised
far more than at present,”
Fynn said. “Much of our
work comes via word of
mouth, and I’m hoping that
with the growth in industry
in the Waikato, we will be
able to find new contracts to
take us into the future.”
Hamilton’s Hone Paki adds new taps to plumbing fittings.
John Fayerman of Cambridge counts and packages plastic
bottles.
Cambridge duo Jenna Tutbury and Carl Smith adding labels to
bottles.