In March, Heinz Wattie’s announced its Dunedin Gregg’s factory would close along with manufacturing sites in Auckland and Christchurch, and frozen packing lines in Hastings.
Gregg’s has been a part of the city since 1862 and the factory’s closure will cost 36 people their jobs.
Otago Polytechnic industry training and innovation deputy executive director Mark Cartwright said the offer was made to provide workers with some options once the coffee factory closed.
The polytechnic had a history of providing support when unfortunate events such as this happened; it provided similar support to workers who lost their jobs when the Cadbury’s factory closed.
Making the offer was a ‘‘no-brainer’’, Mr Cartwright said.
‘‘We want to help the community and this was a perfect opportunity to do it.
‘‘I mean, they are pretty much our neighbours as well.’’
When significant redundancies occurred, people did tend to re-evaluate their options and start exploring other avenues or sectors to work in, Mr Cartwright said.
None of the Gregg’s workers had formally applied for any courses yet, but at least half a dozen of them had booked individual campus tours over the next two weeks.
All courses were eligible for the 12 months of free study.
‘‘We’ve had some reasonably good interest in creative design and fashion, engineering and information technology.’’
Some of the Gregg’s workers they had spoken to had different finishing dates and because semester two enrolments were still open for some courses, it was possible they could start retraining as early as this month.
‘‘As a community, we’ve always kind of rallied together and helped each other when these situations happen.
‘‘It does have an impact, but we’ll work through it.’’
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has also taken action to support Gregg’s workers.
Working in partnership with the Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake, three information sessions were held for the 36 workers covering financial support, job-seeking and next steps.
They were directly connected with employers including Silver Fern Farms, Kaan’s Catering Supplies, Fonterra, Donaghys and Corrections.
Gregg’s site manager Kerryn Sheen said they were pleased with the support on offer.
A Heinz Wattie’s spokesperson said it was working through customer demands and expected production to cease in the first half of August.
