Community hiring day sees dozens get jobs

More than 200 people attended a Community Hiring Day, which was a community-driven jobs fair at St Anne’s Catholic church in Manurewa, South Auckland, on July 16. 

St Anne’s parish Deacon Sanele Poluleuligaga said that some 70 people had found jobs within a few days of the event. 

“The initiative was a response to the need of employers, who were struggling to find workers to fulfil deadlines and expectations due to their workload,” Deacon Poluleuligaga said. 

The employers were Building Brothers Construction, C2 Contracting, Foodstuffs, Henderson Demolition, Gibson J A, Red Badge and OCS Service & Commercial. 

Deacon Poluleuligaga got in touch with Simaile Faalogo of the Ministry of Social Development in Mangere, and it took them three months to organise this event.  

The deacon said he also had help from the Justice and Peace Commission of the Auckland diocese, of which he is a member.  

“The whole event was a community approach. It has been organised by the community, and it’s owned by the community,” he said.  

Deacon Poluleuligaga said the idea came to him when, early this year, some farmer friends came to him asking for help in finding seasonal workers for their orchards in Gisborne. 

The deacon said he advertised the jobs through parish newsletters and, when his friend came to up to Auckland, he (the friend) found 18 people to work for him. 

Deacon Poluleuligaga said he had gone to a couple of seminars provided by the MSD for Pacific people, but those seminars weren’t successful.  

“I said to them that the other thing why people are unable to attend those seminars could be the environment with the MSD. So, I suggested to them, I think it might be the best for you guys to go out to the community, rather than people coming into MSD,” he said. 

Deacon Poluleuligaga reached out to his network of contacts, which includes non-governmental organisations and other churches in South Auckland. 

He said his desire to help people find jobs was fuelled by the JPC’s experience with Covid-19 last year. 

“In my role in the Church and in the Justice and Peace Commission, we advocate for families to be supported,” he said. “Last year, during Covid, we delivered many food parcels. But the Church can’t continue to do that, because we don’t really have the funds to do that.” 

He said the better way was to give people access to employment, so that they can support themselves. 

“These are all full-time jobs. The hourly rates were good as well. They were living wage. When we talk about living wage, it’s about $22 per hour,” he said. 

Auckland diocese vicar for social impact and communications Lorraine Elliot said she was really pleased with the number of young people who attended the event.  

“Deacon Sanele has his passion to help. He does a lot of work for young people in South Auckland, and he has a passion for them to do well,” she said. 

She said she saw at least four carloads of young people going to the jobs fair. 

The Red Badge Group, a security firm, commended the initiative to bring the employers to the Pasifika community. 

In an email sent to Deacon Poluleuligaga, Red Badge Group recruitment coordinator Juliana Walsh said they have recruited one person who already had security experience and a security licence, while eight other candidates have confirmed they are going to an information and induction evening.  

“Going to the community is a great avenue, [and] it is important to keep this initiative going,” she said. 

Deacon Poluleuligaga said the Gospel talks about building the Kingdom of God by supporting others.  

“My role as a deacon is not only to celebrate liturgies, but also to ensure that the heart of the community, which are the families, [is] well-supported,” he said.