“It takes a village to raise a child, and as a good corporate citizen it’s important that Eastland Group helps to support the future employability of our region’s young people.”
Matt Todd, Eastland Group Chief Executive
At Tuesday’s Tairāwhiti Youth Employment Strategy launch, one of the region’s major employers announced its support for the Licence to Work programme.
Speaking at the event, Eastland Group Chief Executive Matt Todd acknowledged the work Activate Tairāwhiti has done in bringing the initiative to the region, and said he believed it would make a significant difference to youth and participating businesses.
“Eastland Group employs over 100 people fulltime, across the Port, Network, Generation and at the company’s head office.
“We encourage young people’s careers in a number of ways, including offering several Engineering Tertiary Study scholarships, contributing to an annual accounting scholarship, offering internships across the Group to university students each summer, and supporting the Youth in Emergency Services programme.
“And, every year, we have a number of jobs available for young people, whether they’re university graduates or school leavers.
“We’ve seen many examples of young people coming into our business, adding value, and working their way up to more senior positions.
“Participating in the Licence to Work programme is an obvious fit, and I believe will add real value to our organisation as a whole. We have a focus on making it happen for our region, and a deeply held belief that people are what makes it all happen.
“I also believe it’s our responsibility to be involved. It takes a village to raise a child, and as a good corporate citizen it’s important that Eastland Group helps to support the future employability of our region’s young people.”
Mr Todd credited Deane Craw, Port Services Manager, for ensuring Eastland Port was on board with the programme from the very beginning. He said that Jarred Moroney, General Manager People and Performance, will oversee the roll out of the programme across Eastland Group.
“With our very diverse network of roles across Eastland Group, we can offer the region’s young people real world experience, and a taste of different career paths they might want to take,” said Mr Moroney.
“I believe that opportunities for young people have become more limited, partly because employers are worried about perceived barriers to taking young people on. This is not the case. We need to encourage young people to be exposed to as many job opportunities and experiences as possible, so they develop confidence and crucial employability skills, and make the right choices for their future.”
Activate Tairāwhiti Economic Development Project Manager Kim Holland said Eastland Group’s involvement was an important step for the expansion of Licence to Work in the region.
“Eastland Group already offers many fantastic opportunities for young people, from scholarships to internships, and it’s a great vote of confidence that they’ve come on board with Licence to Work. They can offer a wide variety of work experience options for young people, and I hope that their example will inspire other local businesses to get involved.”