The Pacific economy in Aotearoa NZ is worth $8 billion annually.
The Pacific population is the youngest, fastest-growing population in Aotearoa.
Strong cultural identity is a protective factor for long-term economic outcomes for Pacific peoples, alongside skills and qualifications.
Many of our Pacific community have amazing hidden skills from community and aiga, which learning experiences can make visible and transferrable.
Is our industry and Tāmaki Makaurau’s workforce prepared to ride the Pacific Wave and embrace the future of work?
These five points were just part of the conversation from the recent Pacific Economic Insights Forum, coordinated by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and timed with the release of the new report “Glimpses into Auckland’s Pacific Economic Future”.
The report highlights positive elements of the region’s Pacific economy that are often overlooked:
- its youthful population
- increasing levels of education and training
- innate ingenuity and enterprising mindset
It proposes an aspirational vision for the future.
Providing a platform to celebrate success builds visibility and possibility. We were honoured to have Sione Fononga and Francis Faalili, from the Foodstuffs North Island Limited team speak on the panel about their experience rolling out Project Ikuna with Upskills across their South Auckland distribution operations.
As Francis said, the main outcomes from participants on the programme were:
“Confidence to stand up in front of the team and take team briefs, to have challenging conversations and organise shifts. From that cohort, we had several team members take on full-time frontline leadership roles and in those teams, there was immediate impact in engagement that led to improved service and productivity.”
Thanks to Sarah Leo, Candy Elsmore and Dion Bond for putting together such an insightful korero!
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View report Glimpses into Auckland’s Pacific Economic Future
