Connecting Kāpiti youth with meaningful local jobs

Kate is one of 30 young people from across the Kāpiti Coast district enjoying new careers thanks to Council’s Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) Community Employment Programme. 

The Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs is a nationwide partnership between Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) and the Ministry of Social Development. The programme supports rangatahi aged 18 to 24 into meaningful, sustainable local employment. 

Kāpiti Coast District Mayor Janet Holborow says it’s a privilege to be part of the MTFJ national programme. “The benefits are two-fold, we’re making a difference to both the young people starting out in their careers, and to local employers benefiting from their enthusiasm and fresh ideas.” 

Council’s employment programme lead, Hayley Collett, says already this year placements have exceeded all expectations. “Originally, we were contracted to find placements for 22 young people – we’re already at 30 and will be finding employment for a couple more participants before the end of June. 

Success of the programme has been recognised with an additional allocation of $30,300 to support more rangatahi into employment.  

For Hayley the job is all about connecting, empowering and supporting these young people to do their best. 

Local young people that are not in employment, education or training, or are job seekers have the opportunity to join the programme.  

“We come together as a group and for many of these young people, I’m effectively their first boss. We spend time on skills-based learning, communication skills, self-management, teamwork… all the basics of being employable!”  

Hayley says they also look at career pathways and explore local employment opportunities. 

“Part of the magic is that these young people come together and work as a group, they create really positive relationships – they celebrate the wins and help each other with the loses. They develop great friendships and relationships just like you do in the workplace, ones that endure beyond the end of the programme.” 

Tapping into local networks Hayley runs her group sessions out of Zeal, the local youth organisation supporting young people. “We meet twice a week in a space that’s designed specifically with young people in mind. For some of our participants this is their first experience of Zeal.” 

She says group sessions tend to run for about three months and as one cohort goes off and finds employment a new cohort begins. 

The other half of Hayley’s job is connecting with local employers, understanding their employment needs and the skills they require and then finding the right match. She says that can start with work experience or a trail period but more often the interactions result in employment.