New Zealand’s unemployment level is at 3.9%, the lowest in ten years. Attracting and hiring the right talent at all levels has become a key barrier globally to achieving revenue growth. The following article discusses how the global shortage of talent for specific roles is driving organisations to become creative in how they attract, develop and retain new staff. Cybersecurity and other tech jobs are hard to fill, and autistic adults have high rates of unemployment. A growing number of organisations are addressing both problems at once by turning to previously under-represented groups, recruiting candidates with autism because of their ability to focus and identify patterns. Here in New Zealand, Hell’s Pizza has a paid training and work experience programme for youth with intellectual disability, committing to training 64 people annually. This has provided a rewarding experience for employees and changed perceptions about how valuable people with intellectual disability can be in the workplace.
