Business

Nearly 90 percent of exporters reported higher costs in a new survey. File photo. Photo: 123rf New Zealand exporters are more upbeat about their prospects in the coming year, but continue to be beset by higher costs and market disruptions. The latest ExportNZ-DHL export barometer shows expectations of improved exports next year have risen to 58 percent of respondents, from 42 percent in last year's survey. But that has been tempered by nearly 90 percent reporting higher costs, with 55 percent facing supply chain and logistics issues, the high cost of doing business in New Zealand, and the value of the NZ dollar. DHL NZ vice president Selina Deadman said costs have risen by up to 49 percent for the vast majority of local exporters, but firms were looking for new ways to do business and i...

An award for "greenwashing excellence" was given to carbon neutral company Wright Communications, which works for Z Energy and Toyota. File photo. Photo: RNZ A certified carbon neutral PR company has been put on global "F List" for its work promoting fossil fuels through clients at Z Energy and Toyota. The F list is list of PR and advertising companies working for fossil fuel companies. It has been put together since 2021 by Comms Declare and Clean Creatives, two groups of ad and PR professionals trying to get agencies to cut ties with fossil fuel companies. So far the groups say 1000 agencies have signed up to swear off working with fossil fuel clients. This is the first time New Zealand companies have been on the list, with 14 New Zealand advertising agencies identified as having rece...

By Luc Cohen, Reuters Caroline Ellison, centre, arrives at court in New York for Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial in this file photo from 11 October 2023. Photo: JOHN NACION / AFP Former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in her former boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried's theft of US$8 billion (NZ$12.5b) in customer funds from the now-bankrupt FTX exchange he founded, even as the judge recognized her extensive cooperation with prosecutors. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said at a sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court that he was not comfortable with remorse and cooperation being a "get out of jail free card" in a case so serious. Prosecutors have called Bankman-Fried's actions one of the biggest financial frauds in US histor...

Bendigo winegrower and Sustainable Tarras spokesperson Rob van der Mark said the local community was worried about the potential rapid industrialisation of their iconic landscapes. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Central Otago locals are worried a proposed gold mine will hit industry and devastate the special - and spectacular - natural environment. Santana Minerals believes the hills between Bendigo and Ophir could hold $4.4 billion worth of gold, and started hosting community drop-in sessions this week. The company hopes to submit a fast track application in February if the new law passes, and offer 250 full time jobs living in the surrounding communities. A dirt road winds its way up the hills in Bendigo towards The Canyon at Tarras Vineyards, overlooking vineyards, farmland, the Clutha Ri...

A Climate Change Commission suggestion that new homes should not connect to the gas network was rejected by the industry. Photo: 123RF The New Zealand gas industry went to an international fossil fuel forum and claimed responsibility for killing off a proposed government ban on new gas connections. Gas NZ presented its success as a model for avoiding regulation for others in the fossil gas industry. The body's presentation to the World LPG Association says it achieved its goal of stopping what it called the "existential threat" posed by a draft suggestion from the Climate Change Commission that new homes should not connect to the gas network, to avoid locking their owners in to rising energy bills. "The immediate challenge was having the sections recommending an end-date for connections...

After record numbers of migrants in the past few years, many are now finding it difficult to find work. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Many migrants who arrived here during the immigration boom of recent years are now struggling to find work. The country gained a record 136,000 new residents in the year ending October 2023 But many of those people - including those whose ability to stay in the country is tied to their employment - have been victims of a softening labour market. First Union general secretary Dennis Maga said about 25 percent of migrant union members had been affected. Some were being sent back home on furlough arrangements, he said. "They are still employed, but the company pays them $100 a month on furlough and will bring them back to New Zealand once construct...

Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers Serious assaults and cases of verbal abuse have reduced thanks to facial recognition technology, Foodstuffs North Island says It's tested the systems in 25 New World and Pak'nSave stores over the past six months Early results indicate 130 incidences of serious assaults and verbal abuse have been avoided The stores will continue using the technology while the company awaits final reports from an independent evaluator and the Privacy Commissioner The Privacy Commissioner has previously raised concerns about the use of facial recognition technology in supermarkets A facial recognition technology trial at 25 supermarkets has reduced crime and prevented more than 100 serious physical and verbal assaults, Foodstuffs North Island says. The New World and Pak'nS...

Photo: 123RF A recruitment agency survey has found people who work from home are able to save more than $5000 a year, and often make decisions based on what jobs have more flexibility. Despite this, the government has told department bosses to tighten up on the numbers and the reasons people work from home, citing concerns over productivity and struggling retail businesses. It comes after more than 6500 public servants have lost their jobs under the current government, and as the cost of living continues to climb. Viv Beck, boss of Auckland business group Heart of the City, is urging the council and other employers to follow Willis and direct their staff back into offices too. Frog Recruitment managing director Shannon Barlow says its surveys show it was not always about the novelty of a...

Photo: Cristian Tarzi / Unsplash Working from home - at least some of the time - is just part of the job for many New Zealand office workers. But with the government cracking down on remote work, and international organisations such as Amazon and Tesla taking a harder line, more questions are being asked about the future of the home office. Here are reasons for and against the WFH life. For... Productivity Despite what some pundits might have you believe, there's limited evidence that whether you work from home has any impact on your productivity. Jarrod Haar, a professor at Massey University, said his research had consistently shown that hybrid workers - those going into the office and working from home - were most productive. Second and third would switch between full-time office work...

Photo: 123rf A small New Zealand biotech company alleges it has had its intellectual property hijacked by an overseas customer. Blis Technologies said it has found that the key customer has filed a patent for two of its processes in the USA, Europe, and China, which was expected to cut its revenue and add to its costs. Blis has developed probiotic products for mouth, throat, and skin healthcare, and disclosed trade secrets, with a non-disclosure agreement, to the European manufacturer as it worked on fermentation processes. It said a patent named two employees from the manufacturer as the inventors of the processes, and the wording in some parts of the application was identical or nearly identical to the information Blis disclosed. "Blis is concerned by the release of its confidential in...