On recommencing potline four on the face of improved metal prices, Tiwai aluminium smelter, owned by Rio Tinto and the Sumitomo Group via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited, is seeking to recruit 90 new staff.
The company reports that it needs to fill 90 roles, as its production is likely to increase with the restart of potline four and the growing demand for aluminium block products. On the other hand, older employees are retiring and increasingly creating room for recruitments.
Outgoing chief executive and general manager Gretta Stephens said, “While it was unusual to be recruiting for so many roles, most of the new jobs related to the restart of line four and the subsequent increased metal production in the casthouse.”
Stephens also said, “The smelter has also introduced a trainee operator hub, creating 12 vacancies, and there were also 10 new roles in training.”
"As well as this, there has been an increase in demand for rolling block, which means that instead of just restarting a casting facility on a dayshift basis to cope with the increased metal from the line four restart, we will run it 24/7, meaning there will be additional shifts to cover."
According to Stephens, the natural attrition of staff is also creating vacancies, besides the retirement of old employees who have been working at the company for past three decades or more.
Restarting the potline is likely to take six more months with the recruitment and training of staff, which is one of the most important and time-consuming elements of the process.
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