Ardern to host youth jobs summit

new-zealand-labour-party

Wed May 20 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Ardern to host youth jobs summit

Wednesday, 20 May 2009, 2:02 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

20 May 2009/Media Statement

The sharp increase in youth unemployment and ways to tackle it will be thrashed out at a youth jobs summit to be hosted by Labour Youth Affairs spokesperson Jacinda Ardern this weekend.

“Young workers are some of the most vulnerable in troubled economic times and the latest unemployment figures are evidence of that,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“In the March quarter unemployment for those aged 15-19 years has risen from 17.9 percent to 19.6 percent. Sadly the news is much worse for those in the 20-24 age group; unemployment has jumped 7.3 percent to 12 percent.

“That’s an extra 10,300 young people who are now without jobs.”

Jacinda Ardern says the focus of Sunday’s youth jobs summit is to look for ways to turn around that trend.

“There is a real need for an open and urgent debate on youth unemployment. The summit will be an opportunity to generate ideas to address this issue of National importance,” Jacinda Ardern said.

Jacinda Ardern says the summit will not be a political forum. Representatives from all political parties represented in Parliament have been invited.

“This summit must spark real solutions to tackle youth unemployment, and because of that I have asked a number of experts to give their thoughts on the problem.

The panel of speakers includes:
•/Phil O’Reilly, CEO of Business New Zealand
•/Peter Conway, Secretary of NZ Council of Trade Unions
•/Michael Goldstein, Deputy Chair, Student Job Search
•/Jeremy Baker, Executive Director, Industry Training Federation
•/Benedickte Jensen, Research Director, New Zealand Institute
•/Ed Moses, Snr Policy Advisor, UK Dept for Children, School and Families

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“Action and urgency is needed to deal with youth unemployment. I hope this summit will get the ball rolling.” Jacinda Ardern said.

Youth Job Summit Programme

FACILITATOR: Andrew Campbell

9:30 – 10:00/Registrations Open

Welcome from Jacinda Ardern MP (Labour Spokesperson for Youth Affairs)

10:00 – 10:30/Youth Unemployment in New Zealand: An overview

Phil O’Reilly (CEO of Business New Zealand)
Phil O’Reilly is Chief Executive of Business NZ, New Zealand's largest advocacy group for enterprise representing more than 70,000 businesses – “everybody from the fish and chip shop in Dunedin right through to Fonterra.” In 2000 he was appointed Head of Employment Policy and Communication at Westpac Bank in Sydney before returning to New Zealand to his role at Business NZ. Phil is a member of the Growth & Innovation Advisory Board, the Ministerial Advisory Group on Trade, Hui Taumata Trust, the Maori Workforce Development Trust, the Workplace Productivity Reference Group, Business Capability Partnership Steering Committee, Skill New Zealand, and the Advisory Committee on Statistics, and is New Zealand’s Employer Delegate to the International Organisation of Employers and the International Labour Conference.

Benedickte Jensen (Research Director - NZ Institute)
Benedikte Jensen is the Research Director at the New Zealand Institute. Benedikte joined the Institute from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where she was the Economic and Financial Advisor to the Prime Minister. Benedikte worked for the Treasury for eight years, most recently as Director of Tax Policy. Earlier in her career she worked for Business and Economic Research Ltd, the Department of Labour and Department of Social Welfare.

10:30 – 10:45/Q & A
10:45 – 11:00/Morning Tea Break
11:00 – 12:00/First Panel Discussion:
Barriers to Increasing Youth Employment: An issue of supply, demand or skills?

Ganesh Nana (Business and Economic Research Limited)
Ganesh Nana is chief economist of BERL and has an extensive knowledge of the relationships between industries and sectors that together make up the New Zealand economy. Ganesh’s approach to economics is firstly and foremost people-based. According to him, economics is about people. It is about their jobs, their incomes, their opportunities, and their futures.

Michael Goldstein (Deputy Chair - Student Job Search)
Student Job Search (SJS) is a not for profit organisation with 27 years experience of advertising and placing vacancies. SJS has the stated objectives of placing as many students as possible in work to help relieve student poverty and ensuring fair and equal employment and earning opportunities for all students. There is a particular focus on women, Maori, Pacific Island, polytechnic, college of education students and students with disabilities.

Jeremy Baker (Executive Director of the ITF)
Jeremy has been involved in tertiary education issues since the early 90s, beginning as a national student representative. He has worked in both the public and private sectors, including running his own educational policy and research firm. He was Senior Adviser to the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission the precursor of the Tertiary Education Commission. Jeremy worked for Business New Zealand as their Adviser Education and Training for four years, and more recently has been Manager of Employment and Skills Policy for the Department of Labour

12:00 – 12:30/Question & Answer session
12:30 – 1:15/Workshop One: “Barriers to youth employment”
1:15 – 1:45/Lunch (provided)
1:45 – 2:00/Report Back on Workshop One
2:00 – 3:00/Second Panel Discussion:
Responses to Youth Unemployment: Ideas from New Zealand and Abroad

Peter Conway (Secretary - New Zealand Council of Trade Unions)
Peter Conway was elected CTU Secretary in 2009. For the last 9 years been he has been CTU Economist and more recently CTU Director of Policy. Peter has been active in unions since 1977, when he became assistant secretary of the Canterbury, Westland, Nelson and Marlborough Clothing Trades Union. Peter has also been assistant national secretary of the New Zealand Distribution Workers Federation, an advocate for retail workers in the National Distribution Union, an educator with the Nurses Organisation and a director of Auckland’s Yellow Bus Company. Peter’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration and an MA in Economics. He is on the Board of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and is Chair of Oxfam NZ.

Ed Moses (Senior Policy Advisor - Department for Children, Schools and Families, United Kingdom)
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), created in June 2007, to coordinate an entire network of individuals and organisations who work with or for children and young people. The UK has recently introduced a number of major initiatives to combat youth unemployment.

Danae Anderson TBC (New Zealand Work and Labour Market Institute)

3:00 – 3:30/Q & A
3:30 – 3:45/Afternoon Tea Break
3:45 – 4:30/Workshop Two: Responses to youth unemployment
4:30 – 4:45/Report Back on Workshop Two
4:45 – 5:00/Summary and next steps
/CLOSE

ENDS

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