{"id":353305,"date":"2026-03-29T06:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T06:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/353305\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T06:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T06:34:11","slug":"chamberworks-launches-to-help-overwhelmed-rotorua-employers-find-the-right-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/353305\/","title":{"rendered":"ChamberWorks launches to help overwhelmed Rotorua employers find the right candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a partnership between MSD and the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce. <\/p>\n

The free programme helps employers by pre-screening local candidates, building digital and wellbeing skills, and providing access to workforce support.<\/p>\n

Dunbar had a permanent team but needed some casual staff to help during busy periods, like holidays.<\/p>\n

She said an MSD staff member went into her store to let her know about the services they provide.<\/p>\n

After realising she did need help, Dunbar got in touch and outlined her needs. <\/p>\n

Dunbar said they told her, \u201cLeave it with me\u201d.<\/p>\n

About a week later, she was sent four candidates who had been \u201cpre-interviewed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hired all of those people,\u201d Dunbar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were all fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three of the four still worked for Dunbar. One seeking full-time work started at Pak\u2019nSave.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch, MSD Rotorua regional labour market manager Adam Adkins said the programme would cut through the problem of \u201chundreds of CVs\u201d. <\/p>\n

It aimed to make recruitment \u201creally easy\u201d, saving time and effort.<\/p>\n

He said about 60% of candidates referred went on to be hired, reflecting the quality of matching.<\/p>\n

Adkins said Rotorua had a \u201cmassive\u201d local talent pool, with about 5500 people on Jobseeker Support.<\/p>\n

He said the pool was growing as the economy shifted and more people were looking for work after businesses closed or made changes.<\/p>\n

The profile of job seekers had also changed, with more \u201chigh-skill\u201d candidates holding qualifications or years of experience. <\/p>\n

Adkins said this created a \u201crich\u201d talent pool for local businesses.<\/p>\n

The ChamberWorks programme offered \u201cflexi-wage\u201d support, which helped employers pay wages, along with training and ongoing support for employees if needed.<\/p>\n

It was government-funded and provided a \u201cbit of compensation\u201d, Adkins said. <\/p>\n

Jen Murray, Taiohi T\u016brama Rotorua Centre for Youth chief executive, said ChamberWorks could support their work by giving access to additional resources for young people and employers.<\/p>\n

The centre provides free primary health, mental health and social services for under-24s.<\/p>\n

She said it was becoming harder for young people to find work<\/a> as more experienced candidates applied for entry-level roles.<\/p>\n

\" Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Melanie Short speaking to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo \/ Michelle Cutelli Photography<\/p>\n

Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Melanie Short said ChamberWorks was \u201cone of the most exciting opportunities for both businesses and for people seeking employment that\u2019s been presented for a while\u201d.<\/p>\n

She was looking forward to \u201crolling it out really strongly\u201d to ensure \u201cgreat results\u201d.<\/p>\n

ChamberWorks will be available across the country\u2019s 23 chambers.<\/p>\n

Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston said in a statement the initiative was \u201cmeeting a gap in the market\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers frequently tell me recruitment is one of the biggest challenges they face,\u201d Upston said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes sense for these two key groups to work together because MSD has the largest talent pipeline of workers in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annabel Reid<\/a> is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke\u2019s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is a partnership between MSD and the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce. The free programme helps employers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14105,93586,19956,67232,186888,3116,1866,5838,24176,1739,19133,111,43,139,69,54981,28441,9979,1327,1516,223,61,3608],"class_list":["post-353305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-applications","tag-businesswoman","tag-candidate","tag-casual","tag-chamberworks","tag-employers","tag-find","tag-help","tag-hundreds","tag-launches","tag-looking","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-overwhelmed","tag-overwhelming","tag-right","tag-rotorua","tag-staff","tag-the","tag-to","tag-were"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}