With harvest season set to kick off for the horticulture sector in the top of the South Island, orchardists, growers and hop farmers are faced with staff shortages due to closed borders.
“We’ve signed three recruitment agencies, so we’ve got plenty of eyes and ears out there.’’ Greater interest had been shown by local people for jobs also, and they were pulling staff from Christchurch to assist. He said accommodation was not a problem and some workers would be staying at local campgrounds. Waipopo Orchard director James Anderson said they worked hard to get staff and had enough to do thinning work. “We’ll get sufficient workers for the harvest and it will be challenging, but we’ve got contingencies in place to mitigate any problems. “We will need 85 at the peak.’’