In the height of unemployment in New Zealand, you would be considered crazy to not take a job paying 40 an hour but this is an issue Robbie Winterson who runs Go Fox Plumbing and Electrical is facing.
When Winterson puts a job ad on Seek or Trade me he says he gets no New Zealand applicants, or only people not suited for the job.
“We don’t get good quality applicants at all. You just don’t get people applying.”
The Putaruru based firm says plumbers would be paid more than electricians, and he pays the same as they would get in Auckland, but it was still hard to hire.
“You can buy a nice house here for $400,000 and we pay the same rates as Auckland, give them vans, uniforms, as many perks as we can think of and we still can’t get people.”
He said plumbers would start off in the low $30 an hour mark but would move up to around the $40 mark once experienced.
Careers NZ says there is a shortage of plumbers and those who are experienced can earn more than $53 an hour.
