The cash incentive also aims to encourage retention among the newly hired staff
Air New Zealand is promising cash incentives in order to attract more employees as the aviation industry attempts to recover from previously slashing thousands of jobs due to the pandemic.
In an internal message, which was seen and reported by Radio New Zealand, employees will be rewarded with cash incentives if they are able to successfully refer a family member or friend for airport work, particularly on checking in and baggage handling.
The letter said the employee and the referred individual will receive $400 once the latter successfully gets onboard, with another $1,000 if the employee completes 12 months with Air New Zealand.
The incentive aims to not only attract new workers, but also retain them, according to the RNZ report, citing Air New Zealand chief people officer Nikki Dines.
The official said the sector is in a "period of low unemployment," which is why they wanted to go all out delivering attractive offering to candidates amid the competitive market.
The initiative, which will only be launched for a pilot run, reflects Air New Zealand's attempt to fill in vacancies brought about by the recovering aviation industry from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its previous decline prompted Air New Zealand to slash 4,000 jobs, a move also done by other carriers and air terminals amid a drop in demand for the sector.
According to RNZ, the airline has since hired 3,000 staff and looking to recruit 1,100 more over the next few months. In particular, the airline has set its sights to hiring 250 airport staff in the next four months.
Read more: Auckland International Airport to include vaccine jabs in contracts for new hires
Similarly, the Wellington Airport also said it is also looking for another 200 staff members amid rebounding passenger numbers. These crew members include airline and airport operation workers, as well as hotel, retail, border, and security staff.
Stuff reported that 30% of the airport's workforce had to be laid off due to the low passenger numbers amid the pandemic.
But it has since started seeing recovering numbers, according to the report, with 100,000 passengers over the past days, and this is expected to grow ahead of the Matariki public holiday.
