Northland's youth job crisis | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Sixteen-year-old Teresa Hobson has joined the growing number of young people looking for work in Northland where youth unemployment has hit crisis point.

There were few prospects when Teresa left school this year but with the help of her family, church and now her tutors at People Potential, where she is gaining NCEA credits, Ms Hobson is confident of achieving her ambition.

She is among 3000 Northlanders, of all ages, fighting for just 54 job vacancies listed with Work and Income.

Northland's unemployment rate - the highest in the country - rose from 8.9 per cent in the December quarter to 9.8 per cent in March. During the same period, the proportion of the labour force receiving unemployment benefit went up - from 5.2 per cent to 5.4per cent.

Youth in the region appear to have been particularly hard-hit by the lack of jobs - Work and Income figures show 1024 Northlanders between 18 and 24 were on unemployment benefit.

At the end of May, the number had dropped to 858.

Of those, 686 - or 67 per cent - were Maori as at the end of February but it decreased to 566, or 66 per cent, at the end of May.

The region's unemployment rate is the highest since 2003 and almost 2 per cent more than the next-highest regions, Auckland and Hawke's Bay/Gisborne, both on 7.9 per cent.

Teresa hopes to be accepted into NorthTec and to train as a youth worker.

"For me, I have to pretty much help myself to achieve what I want to and I will strive to get there. It's difficult [to get a job] but with the right training, I am confident of landing one."

Teresa moved to Whangarei from Christchurch after the February earthquake.

After a few weeks at Whangarei Girls' High School, she left school and enrolled at People Potential to gain qualifications and increase her chances of getting a job.

Bronwyn Ronayne, of People Potential, said her staff were training 149 people in areas such as hospitality, hairdressing, IT, and in numeracy and literacy with a view to getting qualifications.

Although employers, especially businesses, were conservative when hiring workers she was hopeful the job market would improve.

A Government scheme, in which employers receive a grant for employing job seekers, has enabled companies such as Whangarei-based Forest Protection Services to hire about 40 people, particularly young Maori, in the past two years.

Owner Kevin Ihaka said he could recruit people without formal qualification and with appropriate training in forestry management, they could gain full-time employment in tree planting, spraying and applying fertiliser.

Mr Ihaka believes if the construction industry picked up business, the job market would start improving. Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tony Collins said an increase in Northland's population, coupled with the migration of people from other regions, have limited job opportunities.

When times were tough, he said youths often missed out on employment because of lack of experience.

Mr Collins said the chamber had been working closely with businesses, NorthTec and other stakeholders to bring unemployment numbers down.

Since the Work and Income vacancy drive began in April, five new vacancies were listed of which three had been filled.

Work and Income Northland spokeswoman Liz Inch said since January 2011, 140 youths had been placed in employment through Job Ops, the government's youth employment initiative.

Of that number, 100 youths have either remained employed or found new jobs, five have gone into training, 21 were unknown and five have returned to unemployment benefit.

The Northern Advocate has been actively promoting job seekers and to date, three have secured employment.