Dunedin and Clutha are joining forces in a fresh push to fill hundreds of job vacancies in the South.
The initiative aimed to match job-seekers in Dunedin with dozens of major employers struggling to fill vacancies across the Clutha district.
But, far from being a raid on Dunedin's talent, the aim was to promote employment and growth that benefited the city and its hinterland.
The initiative was launched by Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull and his deputy, Chris Staynes, in Dunedin yesterday.
Anyone seeking work was invited to a speed dating-style ''get a job day'' to be held at the Dunedin Centre on November 4.
Details would be advertised and available online within days.
Job-seekers should arrive armed with their CV and prepared for interviews with prospective employers, including Calder Stewart, Fonterra and Danone Nutricia, Mr Cadogan said.
About half the jobs on offer were entry-level positions in Milton and Balclutha, including freezing works roles and apprenticeships, while other employers were looking for university and polytechnic graduates.
Mr Cadogan said the initiative aimed to arrest 20 years of population decline and stagnant growth in the Clutha district.
Employers were telling him their biggest hurdle to growth was a shortage of staff.
The event was expected to feature most major employers in the Clutha district, and was a chance for those seeking work to speak directly to employers, Mr Cadogan said.
''This is the initial job interview. The jobs are there and there's phenomenally good jobs right across the spectrum - jobs for life,'' he said.
However, he stressed the aim was not to raid Dunedin's young talent at the expense of the city.
''This is not us coming to rob your people. This is a commute.''
Mr Cull said the demographic change being experienced in Clutha district was the same challenge faced by all other regions across New Zealand.
Dunedin had a ''substantial pool'' of about 900 unemployed young people, as well as a steady stream of graduates emerging from the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic, he said.
If those people did not find work in Dunedin or the surrounding region, they were likely to leave, he said.
Many of the vacancies in the Clutha were only a 30-minute drive from Dunedin, and both the city and the district would benefit from the initiative's success, he believed.
Cr Staynes, chairman of the council's economic development committee, agreed, saying the growth of Dunedin and its hinterland were connected.
''If you have got a strong region, you have got a strong city, because this is the city of the region.''
Silver Ferns Farms Finegand human resource manager Tenielle Bray said, when contacted, more than 1000 staff would be on site during peak times, but the company still hoped to recruit 200 to 300 workers.
Silver Ferns Farms communications manager Justin Courtney said SFF hoped the initiative would have an impact and encouraged people to apply for jobs at the company.
There was a considerable number of jobs available, so it could be a struggle to fill them all, he said.
''There's a lot of opportunity here,'' he said.
The latest initiative was part of Mr Cadogan's long-running fight to lift employment prospects in the district, including the Ready, Steady, Work training programme, funded by the Ministry of Social Development.
He also organised last year's ''stock take'' meeting in Dunedin, together with Work and Income, to help find jobs for 79 workers made redundant at Southern Cross Forest Products.
Mr Cadogan was also chairman of the Mayors' Taskforce for Jobs for two years, until stepping down earlier this year, but he remained a member of the taskforce.
Cr Staynes said talk was already turning to expanding the latest initiative in Dunedin to include Central Otago next year.
Central Otago was facing many of the same issues in its search for workers ''and, at the end of the day, what we want to do is get people into jobs'', Cr Staynes said.
