Air New Zealand offer cash incentives to attract workers after Covid exodus

Air New Zealand has resorted to offering cash incentives of up to $1400 to entice people to work for the airline, as chronic staff shortages at airports cause travel industry turbulence. The global aviation sector is scrambling to fill thousands of jobs shed when the Covid-19 pandemic grounded flights, with delays, cancellations and lost bags frustrating travellers overseas. Air New Zealand slashed 4000 jobs during the crisis, but has since hired 3000 staff and is trying to recruit a further 1100 over the next few months. In a letter to staff obtained by RNZ, the national carrier promises to reward employees who recommend a family member or friend for airport work in areas like baggage-handling and check-in. "Refer a friend or family member and once they're successfully onboard, you will both receive $400 (gross). As an additional thank you, once the employee you recommended completes 12 months within Airports, a further $1000 (gross) will be paid to you both," the letter said. Air New Zealand chief people officer Nikki Dines said the company wanted to hire 250 airport staff in the next four months. "We're in a period of low unemployment, it's more difficult now to attract candidates, so that combination of high volumes of recruitment and a much more competitive labour market means that we wanted to go out with a really attractive offering to candidates," she said. The offer, which runs until September, is in addition to the one-off $1400 cash bonus employees received in March to reward staff who worked during the pandemic. It comes with a number of conditions - people can only refer someone if they are a New Zealand-based employee and must still be working for the airline at the time the second payment is due.<br/>