We are delighted to have held an intimate forum with Shamubeel Eaqub (Economist) as our guest speaker on Wednesday morning at AUT, with some of our senior leaders in Auckland, hosted by our Specialist Sales & Marketing and Call Centre & Customer Services Beyond Recruitment teams.
We are in unknown political and economic territory right now, and, of course, Trump and Winston were both talking points, as we discussed both the global implications for us politically and the irony of the TPP being signed today in NZ (albeit a null issue – given Trump has now been appointed).
Key take-aways for employers from Wednesday's session included:
- Cautioning employers not to rely on immigration as a future source for desired skills and talent pipelines.
- The fact that your budgeting/forecasting is unlikely to be accurate, as our models cannot predict the climate we’re in and the impact this will have on our businesses (the past will not predict the future).
- Business leaders have a role to play in driving Auckland’s growth and investment, and we have a choice to make as to whether we will in fact put the infrastructure and investment in place to make us truly a global city.
- Lessons from Brexit are close to home in terms of our own regional profile and what this means for NZ.
- Technology pace and the impact on future jobs, desired skills and the impact of this regionally.
Summary
In summary, Shamubeel stated that whilst we do not necessarily have the answers to some of the above today, we can continue to stimulate some empowering conversations and challenge each other as business people to question, debate, engage and collaborate to find these answers.
Thanks to Shamubeel and all of our partners who contributed to this thought leadership. We are also thinking of all our colleagues and partners in Wellington and the South Island today post the earthquake, and are very proud of our Kiwi resilience as demonstrated in these tough times.
