MJH Engineering’s training programme welcomed

The Hutt Valley engineering business has developed an innovative training programme to attract trainees amidst the current skills shortages.

While Covid-19 has impacted immigration and worsened labour and skills shortages in the Hutt Valley, it has also challenged local businesses to think outside the box to attract and retain talent.

In the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Business Confidence Survey, completed at the end of last year, 56% of employers in the region said they were struggling to find quality staff.

Chamber CEO, Patrick McKibbin (pictured below), is in ongoing conversations with local business owners and says the region’s manufacturers and trades are still struggling to meet customer demand and employ the people they need.

“Talent has been a significant issue for businesses in the Hutt Valley, with more than 60% finding it harder to get skilled talent and over 40% finding it harder to get lower-skilled talent.”

MJH Engineering Ltd, a growing business and one of New Zealand’s leading structural steel fabricators, is challenged with finding enough good workers to match their growth rate. Based in Lower Hutt, they specialise in the fabrication and installation of large-scale structural steel projects including industrial warehouses, commercial buildings, multi-storey tower-blocks and seismic strengthening projects.

Jeremy Mikoz, HR & Development Manager for MJH Engineering, says that with the increasing demand for projects comes the challenge of finding the right workers. 

“While there are private training enterprises out there, we’re finding that many of these students aren’t receiving the training they need to be ‘job ready’. In reality there will always be some training issues and limited skilled staff in New Zealand, or not enough skilled travellers coming through, so we need to be prepared for that.”

As a result, Jeremy says MJH Engineering has come up with a proposal for an innovative solution to attract young people into engineering – the ‘MJH Welding School’. The school, based at MJH Engineering, will provide a 6-week full-time training course with qualifications to help young people learn on-the-job skills and theory in welding. 

At the end of the course, trainees will have achieved Unit Standards in welding, a welding qualification, and 240 hours of practical, industry-related training. MJH Engineering will also guarantee jobs for the trainees at the end of their training programme.

Industry feedback on the proposed programme has been extremely positive, especially from other local businesses facing the same labour shortages, and collaboration between Hutt Valley businesses will be key in enabling more employers to gain talent and support training that meets the industry’s needs.

Jeremy says that while the cost to MJH Engineering is likely to be substantial, investing in the future of the industry and helping young people into sustainable employment is worth it.

“We’re not expecting to run this programme at a profit due to setting up a bespoke welding bay, equipment costs and taking senior staff off their projects to help train the students. But it’s a way to give back to the community while attracting new talent who may not ever have been aware of how to get into it.”

However, such costs mean that additional funding will be required to bring the programme to fruition, and the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce has been advocating the Government on behalf of MJH Engineering to secure this much-needed support.

“We’re grateful for the support of the Chamber. They understand the predicament we’re in with staff shortages and the lack of quality of young people coming out of the pre-trade courses.”

Patrick says it all stems from MJH Engineering’s proactive, can-do attitude towards solving the industry’s problem of a labour and skills shortage.

“MJH has said ‘we can’t get the talent we need, either from the education system locally or from immigration, so we need to do something ourselves’. Stepping up like this is a great testament to the strategic thinking they have undertaken, and we applaud them for it.”

Since 2019, the Chamber has been active in connecting local businesses and young people through the Education to Employment programme, which works with schools and students to help them transition from education into vocational careers, facilitating apprenticeships, work experience and trades training with employers.

The programme is part of the Government’s Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE), a strategic plan to completely restructure vocational education nationwide, as a direct response to ongoing labour and skill shortages. Patrick says this service is now an integral part of the talent pipeline.

“Many employers are now engaging with this service, which supports students through the year and then offers them employment. We’ve had some fantastic results in developing career opportunities across a variety of industries, and with this success and increasing awareness comes increasing interest and opportunities for business and talent alike.”