6,000 Students Plan for their Future Today

6,000 Students Plan for their Future Today

Six thousand Year 12 students, from all over New Zealand, won’t be at school today – instead they will be taking part in Workchoice Day 2006.

Workchoice Day gives Year 12 students the opportunity to spend the day at two organisations in an industry that interests them. It is now in its 12th year and has seen over 100,000 students involved in discovering what their future career may be.

This year 250 companies, 6,000 students and 130 schools are taking part in Workchoice Day in eight regions: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Kathy McCombe, Workchoice Trust National Manager says participating in Workchoice Day is beneficial to students and the companies involved.

“Today provides a unique opportunity for teenagers to talk to future employers and get a feel for exactly what working life is all about and the skills required for that particular industry. Workchoice Trust sees students inspired, motivated and importantly, feeling good about their future!

“It also gives organisations the opportunity to tap into the future workforce and ask the students questions about what they want out of a workplace making it easier to attract employees in the future. Workchoice Day also enables future employers to get students interested in their industry at an early stage of their career planning process.”

This year has seen the Trust being able to accommodate student demand in most industries including the health sector which fell short of hosting organisations last year.

“Our hard work has paid off with all students interested in pursuing a career in health able to visit a health related organisation on Workchoice Day, this was definitely not the case last year with many students having to settle for their second or third option.

“The only disappointing response this year has been from the hospitality industry which is particularly unfortunate given the huge response that we get from students every year interested in pursuing a career in hospitality,” says Kathy.

The Workchoice Trust recently commissioned a survey Generation Y – The Future Workforce Survey, undertaken by Colmar Brunton, to gain an insight into how New Zealand organisations feel about Generation Y and the issues they are facing as an increasing number of under 25s enter the workplace.

The results show the majority of organisations are not doing enough to actively raise their profile amongst Generation Y, says Kathy.

“Workchoice Day provides an ideal opportunity for organisations to promote their organisation and industry to a sizeable group from this generation and make a start at bridging the gap between businesses and Generation Y.”

The Workchoice Trust was set up in 1994 by Roger Lampen as a not-for-profit organisation to link New Zealand businesses and schools.

For more information or to register as a business partner go to: www.workchoice.co.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media