300 Vacant Kiwifruit Positions Across The Bay Of Plenty, Coromandel And Northland

Te Puke, 17 March 2020: Seeka Limited (NZX-SEK), a listed New Zealand produce handler has today announced a labour shortage of 300 positions for local people across their kiwifruit orchard and post-harvest operations in Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Northland.

Seeka Chief Executive, Michael Franks said the usual flow of people to work for us in our eight facilities across the North Island has been impacted. The number of backpackers through our doors is low, and a significant portion of our experienced Recognised Seasonal Employee (RSE) scheme employees have been restricted from departing their country.

Franks outlined that 135 RSE workers scheduled from Malaysia had been restricted with their Government closing their borders for both inbound and outbound travellers. Sensibly the New Zealand Government had allowed those vacancies to be filled with workers from the Pacific Islands. Even with these workers, Seeka is 300 short and the labour shortage is acute.

Franks explains, "While we look to employ New Zealanders first and foremost, we also need to find other sources of workers such as backpackers and those from the RSE scheme as the harvesting and packing window of kiwifruit is relatively short. To date around 5% of crop Seeka handles has been processed, for the moment we have coped – however in about three weeks we will hit peak flow and need far more numbers of people."

“We're open to new solutions, and given there are local businesses affected by coronavirus in Tourism or Forestry who may be having difficulties keeping staff employed, working in the kiwifruit industry for a short term could be beneficial for everyone. We ask anyone looking for work to get in touch."

Working at Seeka during the kiwifruit season (March to June) - Key information

- Apply at a Seeka site, online at www.seeka.co.nz or call 0800 733 525

- Seeka is an integrated horticultural and produce company that grows, processes, distributes and markets high quality produce to world markets. An international business based in New Zealand focused on orchard-to-market excellence. Seeka’s core business is kiwifruit and it is a key supplier of New Zealand fruit to Zespri.

- There are eight Seeka post-harvest facilities located in Kerikeri, Whenuakite, Katikati, Aongatete, Mount Maunganui and Te Puke. There are vacancies at all sites.

- Each year Seeka needs 3,000 seasonal workers. Seasonal jobs start in March and finish around mid-June. There are also opportunities for reliable seasonal workers to continue working until November.

- Shift work available, opportunity to earn great money working for an inspirational company.

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