Sustainability and the case For Youth Employment Presentation

Sustainability and the case For Youth Employment Presentation 2002 Youth Employment Project- NZBCSD

Providing business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development, and promoting eco-efficiency, innovation and responsible entrepreneurship.

Sustainable Development Is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come.

What is SD? SD is forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

SD encompasses three linked elements: • Economic/Profit • Environmental/Planet • Social/People

Sustainable New Zealand Scenario ECONOMY Knowledge-intensive Responsive Niche-focused Clustered Kiwis are confident & entrepreneurial Wealth is created sustainably ENVIRONMENT For Ever SOCIETY Stretch goals for: Proactive Waste reduction Educated Air and water quality Energy efficiency Biodiversity Restoration Everyone walks the talk Networked Diverse Caring

Our Aims • • Business leadership Demonstrate best practice Policy development Global outreach

Our Members 3 M New Zealand Ltd BP Oil NZ Ltd City Care Ltd Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Fletcher Building Ltd Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited Hubbard Foods Ltd Interface Agencies Landcare Research Meridian Energy Mighty River Power Ltd Milburn New Zealand Ltd Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Money Matters NZ Ltd Morel & Co Natural Gas Corporation NIWA Palliser Estate Wines of Martinborough Ltd Port of Tauranga Ltd Pricewaterhouse. Coopers Richmond Ltd Sanford Ltd Shell New Zealand Ltd Simpson Grierson Telecom New Zealand Ltd The Boston Consulting Group The Living Earth Company The Warehouse Group Ltd Toyota NZ Ltd Transfield Services (NZ) Limited Transpower Trust Power Urgent Couriers Ltd URS - NZ Ltd Waimangu Volcanic Valley Waste Management N. Z. Ltd Watercare Services Ltd

THE REGIONAL NETWORK - BCSDs and Partner Organizations BCSD North Sea Region CGLI USA/Canada Vernadsky Foundation Russia BCSD Poland EPE France BCSD Czech Republic BCSD Mongolia FE Spain BCSD Austria FFA Spain BCSD Croatia BCSD Latin America BCSD Gulf of Mexico BCSD Honduras BCSD El Salvador BCSD Venezuela BCSD Costa Rica APEQUE Algeria CII India BCSD Taiwan BCSD Thailand BCSD Malaysia PBE Philippines BCSD Colombia BCSD Indonesia BCSD Brazil EFZ Zimbabwe IEF South Africa WASIG BCA W. Australia BCSD Argentina BCSD New Zealand

Current NZBCSD Projects • Sustainable Development Reporting • Climate Change • Zero Waste • Sustainable Consumption • Successful Schools • Youth Employment

NZBCSD Youth Employment Project Objective: Lead NZ business in their role of ensuring current employment or training for all young New Zealanders by 2005

Project Deliverables The ultimate project deliverables will be: • A concise NZ industry guide on the “why” and “how” for stimulating youth employment • Website area including industry guide, reporting facility and other “learning by sharing” tools • Member companies commit to and report against local employment or training targets.

Purpose of the guide • To present the business case for addressing youth unemployment • To provide a set of tools to assist member businesses to implement youth employment initiatives • To encourage associate businesses to adopt youth employment strategies • The guide will achieve its purpose by: – educating on the issues of youth unemployment – motivating business to accept the challenge of youth employment – equipping business with the necessary tools and resources to take on the challenge.

Methodology • • Establish that youth unemployment is an issue Understand the causes of youth unemployment Develop awareness of impact on business Develop broad employer frameworks, policies or commitments to guide action • Develop detailed policies, clear objectives, strategies and initiatives • Promote youth employment measures to businesses.

Research

Understanding Youth Unemployment • Desktop research – Statistical analysis – Literature search • Schools Careers Advisors Survey • School Focus Groups.

Youth Unemployment: • Unemployment amongst 15 to 24 -year -olds was 17. 6% at 2001 census • This figure far exceeds the 7. 5% rate for general population unemployment identified in the 2001 census • Youth unemployment accounts for 41% of total unemployment Source Statistics NZ • 1 in 6 young New Zealanders are unemployed.

Unemployment Rates by Ethnicity:

Qualifications: • 10, 000 young New Zealanders leave school each year with little or no formal qualifications • ¼ of 15 to 24 -year-olds have no school qualifications. School Leaver Qualifications by ethnic group - 1996 Source Statistics NZ

Where youth are employed: Source Statistics NZ

Proportion of young employees in Industry Sectors: This graph displays the percentage of the workforce that is youth employees (15 yrs to 24 yrs) in each industry sector. The average overall percentage of youth employment is 15. 7%. 1 Source Statistics NZ

Observations: • Most young employees are currently employed in the Retail and Service sectors • Health and Education are large industry sectors with a very small proportion of young employees • New Zealand’s Pacific peoples population is growing three times faster than the national average • The median age of the Pacific Island community is 20 years compared to 32 years in the general community • Youth population is currently 21% of total. This is 1 expected to drop to 15% in 2051. Source Statistics NZ

Observations cont’d: • Young Maori and Pacific Island people are disproportionately highly represented in unemployment statistics • There is strong correlation between youth unemployment and poor school achievement • Unemployment of parents and other family members increases the likelihood of unemployment for a young person • Student debt arising from student loans for fees is becoming an ever more significant barrier to further training • The state loses track of youth at risk between leaving school (MOE) and turning 18 (WINZ).

Schools Careers Advisors Survey:

Schools Careers Advisors Survey Observations: • Most Students leave school with clear intentions for the future • Schools would like formal relationships with business but few have them, and fewer still are doing anything to make it happen • Careers Advisors had a range of opinions about the causes of youth unemployment as follows.

Causes of Youth Unemployment · All employers want an · Lack of Role Models ‘academic’ · Employer reluctance to hire young people · Family Problems · Fewer unskilled jobs available · Globalisation · Health and Safety Legislation · High company taxes · Lack of local jobs · Lack of motivation · Low Skills and Qualifications · Low youth rates (causing employment disillusionment) · Not enough jobs · Parental Indifference · Pot Smoking

School Focus Groups

School Focus Groups Observations: • Young people want to work • Teachers, parents and peers are the strong influencers of beyond-school plans • There is very scant knowledge about apprenticeships • There was little resistance to the commitment associated with apprenticeship once explained.

Business Case

Youth Employment – The Business Case • Youth Unemployment is damaging to: – Society – Business – Young people and their families.

Society • Burden on the Welfare System • Waste of compulsory education investment • Reduced potential tax take • High rates of youth crime • Correlation to teenage pregnancy, youth suicide and poorer overall health.

Business • Reduced overall consumption of goods and services • Youth alienation from business and commercial goals • Disconnection of business from its future markets • Ageing workforces • Disconnection of business from modern youth culture / lack of age balance in the workforce • Lack of access to young talent.

Young people and their families • • • Failure to continue to gain skills Low self-esteem Depression Family dependence and stress Tendency to become unemployable Drift into crime.

Youth Employment – The Business Case • • • New ideas / new talent Rejuvenation of the workforce Inspiration for older workers Connection to community Connection to marketplace Investment in skills with maximum future potential for application to business and society • Young people want to work / young people are hard workers prepared to put in long hours.

Possible Projects

Possible Initiatives • • • Reporting against youth employment targets Employer Mentoring Employer representation on Boards of Trustees School Partnerships Sponsoring training courses and equipment Funding training delivery Scholarships / competitions / awards Employer Organisations as hiring brokers Linking with school’s careers advisory services. ‘Employment to Contracting’ proposal Pre-Apprenticeship Work Skills Programme

Employment to Contracting • Urgent Couriers has about 70 independent contractor courier drivers and about 20% of the market • Difficulty recruiting young staff. Barriers include: – Earning capacity as a contractor. Traffic gridlock – Entry costs of approximately $10, 000 – Need to have ‘small business’ skills • Proposal in development: – Urgent will initially employ 5 to 6 courier employees identified from WINZ Auckland clients for a period of 6 to 9 months – Urgent will purchase vehicles for these employees – Urgent will train these employees – including licensing and small business skills – during their 6 to 9 month employment – Urgent will save any WINZ subsidy and make this available to the employee at the end of the period to contribute to the purchase of the vehicle and their continued work as a courier contractor.

Pre-Apprenticeship Work Skills Programme • City Care have WINZ buy-in to a pre-apprenticeship work skills programme featuring: – 20 young workers over 12 months cycling through 8 occupations – Training to a Level 1 NZQA certificate in employment and work skills including: • Literacy / Numeracy, Defensive Driving, Personal Finances, Teamwork – Partnership relationships with: • WINZ / CITO / AWUNZ • Targeted Outcomes: – – – Significant personal development of participants All participants achieve qualification 12 start full apprenticeships with City Care Other graduates also placed in apprenticeships Programme continues annually with City Care Programme adopted by other industry groups throughout NZ

Young Workers on Farms • Fonterra looking to tackle barriers to youth employment on farms. Fonterra have surveyed their farmers and found: – – Farmers can be hard employers Poor understanding of youth culture Youth unaware of farming career opportunities Patterns of time-off need addressing • Education required both ways: – Farmers on the needs of young people and how to be a good employer – Youth on the opportunities farming offers as a career and about the skills and attitudes needed to succeed • Fonterra’s farmers want Fonterra to intervene • Fonterra as a company is developing strategies on youth employment in general, and farm work in particular.

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