Tradies struggle to hire young employees who will commit

Derek Alexander
Derek Alexander

Kiwis pride themselves on being hard-working and having a strong work ethic. We aren't afraid to get stuck in and get the job done.

But is that still true?

Migrants are snapping up jobs in New Zealand because Kiwis won't do them. That's despite the fact more than 150,000 Kiwis are unemployed.

Derek Alexander works in flooring and must employ Kiwis for his business but he has been struggling to find employees who last longer than a month.

He says it's a great job but you can't convince those under the age of 25 of that.

He has even offered to pay to put people through a two-year apprenticeship but even that does not seem to be a draw card.

The construction and trade business is booming but the manpower is not. Is it possible Kiwis have become lazy and our reputation for being hard-working has gone?

Watch the video for the full Story report.