New Zealand businesses are displaying enormous commitment to their apprentices and trainees, a BusinessNZ survey has found.

BusinessNZ surveyed 647 companies to help inform its recommendations to the Jobs Summit this week.

Of those respondents who employ apprentices or trainees, 90% said they intend to keep them on, despite the worsening economic situation.

And of the 10% who are considering laying off apprentices, many said they would retain them if the Government shouldered some of the associated costs.

The businesses surveyed also showed a great commitment to training, with 58% considering that the current economic environment provides an opportunity to upskill workers for the future needs of the business.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly said the commitment was heartening.

“Our recommendations to the jobs summit this week will pick up on these, with ideas for expanding tertiary education where it is linked with employer and industry needs, exploring support for employers to retain their employees while releasing them for training, and other ideas.

“However it is worrying that 57% of the respondents don’t intend to hire any new apprentices. This is an area where the Government needs to think hard, not only at the jobs summit but also in its normal policy development.”

The survey also asked about intentions regarding redundancies. A third of respondents said they had more staff than needed and more than a third of those said they were considering redundancies or reduced working hours.

“The good news, however, is that many employers (40-70%) would reconsider making staff redundant if the Government provided some assistance by way of wage subsidy, additional subsidised annual leave or other help.”

Mr O’Reilly said he looked forward to representing the ideas of his members to the jobs summit and to the Government’s normal policy development processes.

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