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News
Back to the news list Hawke's Bay orchard worker suppliers bringing pick
1 December 2020 - Media Release - New Zealand Herald

With horticulture growers scrambling to find workers to pick their crops over the coming harvest season, one small Hawke's Bay business headed out of town to get people on board.

Momoisea Horticulture Services Limited, which supplies workers to orchards around the region, would normally hire locally but this year has already brought in 15 people from Auckland and one from Christchurch three weeks ago.

Theresa Momoisea, who works as a commercial business manager for the family-owned business, said there are more families currently on the waitlist for accommodation before they can move too, and quite a few more people will be coming down over the next few months.

"We've had to look outside the box, we can see that all the other contractors and growers are looking within Hawke's Bay," she said.

Momoisea said a lot of people in Auckland were made redundant through Covid, and are in need of work with not much to go around there.

"We want to help our people, as much as we want to help our growers as well," she said.

Momoisea Horticulture Services Limited has been working closely with places like the Work and Income office in Mangere, Auckland over the last month or so.

"There's people walking in and out looking for jobs, and people actually wanting to make a change in their life by moving outside of Auckland," Theresa Momoisea said.

She said some of them are students who will go back once high school or university starts, but most were making the permanent shift to Hawke's Bay.

Theresa Momoisea says people are keen to come to Hawke's Bay for picking jobs, but there is not enough accommodation in the region to house them. Photo / Warren Buckland
Theresa Momoisea says people are keen to come to Hawke's Bay for picking jobs, but there is not enough accommodation in the region to house them. Photo / Warren Buckland

Momoisea said it was important to go up to Auckland and see the potential workers face-to-face.

"To give them the confidence that we will look after them down here in Hawke's Bay, given a lot has happened in the industry due to exploitation of workers and so forth," she said.

"We had to really go up there, sit down and build that relationship and network to gain that confidence from these individuals."

Last week the Government announced new incentives to encourage unemployed New Zealanders into seasonal work, including $200 per week towards accommodation costs and a $1000 payment for workers who complete jobs of six weeks or longer.

"Getting New Zealanders into jobs is our top priority and our changes will help address the barriers unemployed New Zealanders face when considering seasonal jobs, particularly relocation costs and unstable income," Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said.

Theresa Momoisea said while the incentives would absolutely help convince people to take up seasonal work, the biggest struggle in Hawke's Bay was housing those wanting to move.

She acknowledged the help of grower John Bostock in providing single-unit accommodation for the workers.

"It's just the families that we've been getting a lot of calls from wanting to come down, and we just can't get any accommodation for them," Momoisea said.

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