By Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting
In the past five years, the Ngā Puna Pūkenga Skills for Industry program has helped 1000 Aucklanders secure sustainable employment.
Supporters say this milestone does more than provide jobs — it gives jobseekers a sense of purpose and helps support future generations.
What started as a modest initiative in the Auckland Council Healthy Waters team is now supporting 1,000 families and future generations.
Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters manager Craig McIlroy said they began with the aim of creating 60 new jobs in the first year.
“We encouraged and supported council contractors that we worked with to take on people who were facing barriers to employment, particularly Māori and Pasifika, and young people.”
Ngā Puna Pūkenga partners with Auckland Council, Ministry of Social Development, contractors and small to medium-sized employers to create roles for people facing employment barriers.
Crystal Afualo, co-owner of the Māori and Pacific-owned Hindmarsh Drainage, said they have hired five, soon to be seven, staff as part of the programme.
The demographic of her team are young Māori and Pacific Islanders.
“I’m really into providing a pathway for our men. I hate seeing our young brown boys on the benefit [who have] low self-esteem, low self-worth, and they think that they can’t do any better than that.
“If you can curve that, teach them a trade, teach them a skill, boost their confidence, it’s something that sets not just them up, but their families and the generations after them, and it gives them a sense of purpose.”
Glen Ruma, director of Independent Traffic Control, says his company has been part of the programme for three years.
“It’s great. I think these milestones like this should be celebrated, but it’s only really just getting started.
“We’ve got over 50 people through there, probably a lot more than that.”
As a proudly Cook Island and Māori owned business, 63% are Māori and 22% are Pasifika.
“As Māori and Pasifika, we care more about the outcomes of our people because we want them to be successful. We feel part of it. We have a whānau-centric idea around how we want people to succeed.”
The Ngā Puna Pūkenga team supports these businesses with recruitment, onboarding, pastoral care, training and wage subsidies.
Businesses must offer permanent full-time positions, a living wage, and at least one year of training and mentoring.
Tamahou Ryder, who works for Traffic Management Control, was recruited through the programme.
Training and mentoring have been helpful and he’s been able to upskill his driver’s license.
“I never thought that I’d have a big jump from minimum wage to where I am now. And that’s what keeps me going.”
Traffic Management operator Willie Bentley, of Sāmoan descent, has been working for the past 15 months.
Bentley says he feels supported at work and with personal matters, as has probation conditions, which he was upfront about.
He has been able to upskill and obtain multiple class licenses and traffic certificates.
“It’s great, I see so many people progressing, not just myself, but my other work colleagues.”
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown met with some of the programme’s partners at the Fulton Hogan-managed Watercare Waikōwhai worksite to celebrate the achievement.
“It makes perfect sense for Auckland Council to leverage its considerable purchasing power to support people in business who invest in the people that work for them.
“In the end, we all share in the economic and social benefits,” says Mayor Brown.
The programme has an employment retention rate of 80% at two years, based on the 1000 job placements.
As of May 2024, 70% of the programme’s participants were still off benefits.
Ngā Puna Pūkenga is being implemented across all of Auckland Council with Mayor Brown’s support and up to $3.8 million in MSD funding for the 2025 financial year.
