May 05, 2022
Māori media tackles kaimahi drought
Māori media operators hope this month’s Budget will allow them to tackle a critical shortage of kaimahi.
About 30 people from radio, television and digital media came together at Māori Television yesterday for a Māori media sector workforce development wānanga.
Whakaata Māaori chief executive Shane Taurima says they heard from Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson about his efforts to complete the Māori media sector review, and he assured them they should be happy with the May 17 Budget.
He says there has been next to no money for workforce development in the many years Māori television and radio has been around.
“We are facing the biggest shortage of skills and talent we have ever faced but the reality is the globe is now facing a skills shortage and it is incumbent on us as a sector to find and work together on solutions that are going to tackle these challenges we are facing,” he says.
Mr Taurima says Māori media has always trained people on the job, but there also needs to be innovative ways of upskilling the existing workforce, recruiting and training new workers, and working in kura to build a pipeline for the future workforce.