Close to $70,000 has been awarded by the Inspiring Futures Foundation in the recent granting round to three leading automotive and transport organisations to encourage long-term workforce sustainability in their industries.
The recipients of the funding, which totalled $68,800, were Bus and Coach Association New Zealand, New Zealand Collision Repair and MITO.
First-time recipient, Bus and Coach Association New Zealand Chief Executive Delaney Myers, says that she sees the funding as a way to encourage workers to see driving as a long-term career option.
"Anyone who lives in a metro area has seen the impact of bus driver shortages and without our drivers, our service falls over. While we have many anecdotal ideas about how we can make bus driving more attractive, there's no solid evidence. This grant will allow us to identify what we need to do to attract new talent, while retaining and supporting our current drivers."
Inspiring Futures Foundation Chair SturrockSaunders says the “Trustees are delighted to support these industry grant applications. We know that attracting and retaining employees is one of the biggest challenges that industries face, and the Inspiring Futures Foundation is ambitious around the difference it can make to support learners, employers and impact to the learning environment”.
New Zealand Collision Repair General Manager, Stewart Gibb, says their funding will enable them to offer more industry scholarships and mentoring; encouraging young Kiwis into skilled work,including a target of 25% women as recipients.
"We have a serious skills shortage in New Zealand’s collision repair trades. We're putting a band-aid on this by bringing people in from overseas, but that’s not sustainable. The more help we can give New Zealanders to be trained into these roles, the more the industry will be prepared and ready for the future."
MITO Executive Director Verna Niao agrees with the sentiment. She says formal qualifications support sustainable career pathways for the automotive and transport industry, in particular the commercial transport industry where there is a low uptake of formal qualifications. MITO is conducting research that is the first of its kind in New Zealand into barriers to training in that sector and working with industry leaders to develop solutions.
“This industry comprises 11,000 businesses and 56,000 employees, including 33,000 truck drivers, accounting for 90% of the country's freight. It is growing really fast but there is little New Zealand-specific evidence around the barriers that both employers and employees face when thinking about gaining a qualification.
“This funding supports critical research, shaping a pathway to elevate training adoption. Drivers in this industry are highly skilled professionals that deserve to be recognised through enabling pathways for them to achieve their formal qualifications.”
Of the $68,800 awarded, $28,800 has been granted to New Zealand Bus and Coach Association, $25,000 to New Zealand Collision Repair and $15,000 to MITO. Grant applications for the Inspiring Futures Foundation will reopen on 1 September 2024.
To date the Inspiring Futures Foundation has proudly invested nearly $ 1,000,000 into Industry Scholarships, Loans and Grants, and "the Trustees are very much looking forward to the next granting round" says Sturrock Saunders, Inspiring Futures Foundation Chair.
Visit the Inspiring Futures Foundation website for more information on the grants available: www.inspiringfutures.nz
