Wellington City Council is looking to the future by helping migrants and refugees find employment in the Capital.

 

Council Chief Executive Garry Poole says Wellington is competing internationally for talent. He says a city that is welcoming and tolerant to diversity will have a competitive advantage over a city that is not.

 

“That is why the Council has embraced the Migrant and Refugee Work Experience programme. The aim is to reduce barriers to participating in the workforce. By investing in talent the Council is investing in the economic future of Wellington City.”

 

Poole is confident the programme will work for other local authorities. However, it will need strong leadership to overcome resistance from managers concerned the efforts they make will not be commensurate with the contribution from migrants.

 

“We got around that by our leadership saying, ‘We want this to happen, and we’re sure you’ll get value out of this scheme’. And what has happened is that in all cases we have got real value. The managers, some of whom were quite reluctant to start off with, are now advocates of the scheme. Council staff have also benefited and it has opened people’s eyes to what migrants and refugees face as they try to make a new life.”

 

Poole calls the results of the first year’s scheme “superb” saying the Council is committed to continuing with it. And the Council has been recognised for its effort. At the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ) Wellington Awards, the Council won HR Initiative of the Year.

 

For the migrants the outcome has been good too. Of the 19 who went through the first year of the programme, 11 got employment, two are still finishing their placement and one has started his own business.

 

Poole wants to see other organisations take up the challenge and offer similar programmes.

 

“I’m now talking to my colleagues in local government; the Mayor and I are talking to ministers and senior public servants saying ‘We’ve demonstrated leadership in this area - what about you guys coming to the party and also demonstrating leadership?’”

 

 

Ethnic communities in Upper Hutt also identify lack of work experience as a barrier to employment for migrants, according to work placement programme coordinator Godwell Mahowa. “We employed a settlement officer and employment came up as one of the issues,” Mahowa says.

 

With help from Work and Income and the Ministry of Social Development, Upper Hutt City Council is planning to give five migrants or refugees work experience placements starting in January. Over thirty applications came in from Upper Hutt’s migrant communities and Work and Income well ahead of the December 18 deadline.

 

As well as helping migrants gain work experience, the scheme is a way for council managers to become familiar with people from the different cultures in their city, Mahowa says.

 

---

 

Local Government and Social Responsibility

Local government could lead the way in promoting equal employment opportunities for migrants and refugees.

The local government sector:

• provides around 40,000 jobs.
• contributes 3.5 percent of GDP
• has an annual operating expenditure of $3 billion
• has an annual capital expenditure of $800 million

 

The Local Government Act 2002 states among its purposes:

“To provide for democratic and effective local government that recognises the diversity of New Zealand communities; to that end, the Act provides for local authorities to play a broad role in promoting the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities, taking a sustainable development approach.”

 

The local authorities' role is to facilitate the contribution other local authorities, government agencies, local organisations and the business sector make to the outcomes and priorities identified by the community.

 

The role of the local authority is to facilitate the process, with the community having ownership of the identified outcomes.