Why rising underutilisation of the workforce is cause for concern
Dig deeper into the data, and you'll see the underutilisation rate - people actively seeking a job, available to work, or employed for fewer than 30 hours a week - is sitting at nearly 13% or around 400,000 people.
While 27,000 jobs have been lost in the past year, the amount of full-time equivalent work has fallen by 74,000.
So what impact is this having on those who can't find work and the economy as a whole?
Emile Donovan speaks to Shamubeel Eaqub, Chief Economist at Simplicity.
Photo:
123RF
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
44 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Spark to sell 75% stake in data centre to Pacific Equity Partners
Spark is selling a 75 percent stake in its data centre business to Pacific Equity Partners. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson Telecommunications company Spark is selling a 75 percent stake in its data centre business for $705 million. Private capital investor Pacific Equity Partners was expected to help Spark secure the funding necessary to meet growing demand for data storage and computing. "Through this partnership we will realise value for our data centre assets in the short term, while also continuing to participate in the growing market through our 25 percent retained stake - creating further value for our shareholders over the long term," Spark chief executive Jolie Hodson said. Spark expected to receive cash proceeds of about $486 million at completion of the sale, with deferred cash proceeds of up to $98m contingent on the achievement of certain performance-based objectives by the end of the 2027 calendar year. Proceeds will be used to reduce Spark's net debt. Hodson said Spark will move its data centre assets and operations into a new stand-alone company, which was currently 'DC Co', which will have its own board, management team and debt financing facilities. "DC Co has a leading data centre platform in a growing market, with over 23MW of built capacity at 11 operating data centre facilities across New Zealand, and advanced plans in place for a greenfield development on Auckland's North Shore, as well as further extensions at the Takanini site in South Auckland," she said. PEP managing directors Andrew Charlier and Evan Hattersley said in a statement the investment aligned with PEP's growth strategy. "With PEP's backing and Spark's partnership, DC Co is positioned for transformative growth, delivering essential infrastructure that will support cloud and AI adoption and data sovereignty in New Zealand," they said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
44 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Government subsidies to replace gas heaters with heat pumps could save $1.5b, NZGBC says
Photo: 123RF A government subsidy scheme for homeowners to replace gas and inefficient heaters with heat pumps would save the country $1.5 billion a year, the Green Building Council (NZGBC) says. It comes amid a major decline in gas availability across New Zealand, with the council proposing gas in residential homes be phased out to free it up for major industries. A 50-page report dubbed Protecting industry, jobs and household budgets as the gas runs out released by the council on Tuesday outlines eight recommendations to combat the "energy crisis". NZGBC chief executive Andrew Eagles told Morning Report there was a solution to allay a major decline in gas availability. "That's leading to a hollowing out of communities as employers go under, and major losses across the motu," he said. The country's manufacturing sector had endured a difficult period over the past year that saw the closures of Penrose's OFS Mill, Winstone Pulp International's Tangiwai Sawmill and Karioi Pulpmill, and Tokoroa's Kinleith Mill. According to the NZGBC report, households were making progress in the adoption of heat pumps and decreasing purchases of gas hot water systems, but commercial and residential natural gas/LPG consumption was still climbing. It said only minor decreases in commercial and residential use of natural gas over the next decade would occur under existing policies. Feedback from Morning Report listeners challenged the council on the idea, with one person claiming heat pumps were getting more expensive. Another person said they were paying similar winter power costs for solar panels as they were previously paying for gas. Eagles said a wide-spread switch to electric would not only be good for employers, bur would slash the living costs for New Zealanders. Accelerating heat pump adoption would save households alone up to $1.5b a year in reduced electricity and gas bills, the report said. "Heat pumps really help switch over from inefficient resistance heaters so you get a drop-off in electricity use as well," Eagles said. "The electricity grid is under pressure." Most OECD countries were providing some form of energy subsidy or tax incentives, including Australia, UK, France, United States and Canada. Homeowners and businesses were facing volatile energy prices and would save more long-term by electrifying, Eagles said. "If people are connected up to gas they have a standing charge every day that they're paying. That's a real cost that they have to pay, no matter how much gas they use." Eagles said some new home builds were still being connected to gas suppliers. "It's really shocking to us, at a time when we are literally having to decide between whether we have enough gas for our homes, or whether we have enough gas for our industry," "It's heartbreaking. Ruapehu, the largest employer has gone under, 200 jobs are lost because they can't access gas. "And at the same time we have thousands of homes connecting up to a gas network which they probably wont be able to access in 10 years time." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Auckland mayoral candidate promises key policy release after no show
Kerrin Leoni says she will release her fiscal policy plan this week. Photo: Supplied / NZ Herald A contender for Auckland's mayoralty is promising to release a key policy this week after a confusion over a no-show over the weekend. On Friday, a press release sent out by Kerrin Leoni's campaign team stated the Auckland councillor, and main contender to incumbent mayor Wayne Brown, would release her fiscal policy plan at the Avondale Markets that weekend. " Kerrin Leoni will release her fiscal policies at the Avondale Markets on Sunday at 10am," it said. But when the day came, she was nowhere to be seen at the West Auckland market, and there was no mention of it elsewhere. When approached by RNZ for comment, Leoni chalked it up to miscommunication. "We had originally intended to go [to the market], but we had not announced it as an event. "Over the weekend, we had a number of competing issues that came up. We had our hoardings go up over the weekend, and I actually experienced a difficult situation with one of the hoardings that went up." Leoni would not elaborate on what the difficult situation was. She said the announcement was not promoted anywhere and was only mentioned in a press release to media. "There was no one that I'm aware of at that event." She said she would personally handle inviting reporters to policy announcements going forward. "That miscommunication will not be happening again. I'll be leading those invites going forward." She said she would announce her fiscal policy in the next few days at an event for media. "We've spent a lot of time working on these policies, and I look forward to releasing them this week. "As a qualified economist, I have a master's in economics and international politics, fiscal policy is very important to me and will be at the centre of my campaign." The announcement was included in the same press release that criticised Mayor Wayne Brown for not committing to any candidate debates which was first reported by RNZ last week. "I think Brown wants a low turnout this election so he can simply cruise to victory," Leoni said. Speaking to RNZ on Monday, she doubled down on her calls for the mayor to debate her . "Having policies on a website versus being able to debate those policies in public are two different things." Wayne Brown's campaign team declined to comment when approached by RNZ. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
