04 March 2013
MIT student, and new DFS Duty Free employee, Hayley Lockhart with DFS general manager Julian Bottaro.
A pilot internship programme, which placed Manukau Institute of Technology students into summer jobs at businesses based at Auckland Airport, has led to permanent employment for over half of the nine participants.
Auckland Airport’s general manager of corporate affairs, Charles Spillane, says he’s delighted with the programme’s success. “The ultimate goal here was to get local people into local jobs and, with over half the interns securing permanent roles at the airport, this has well and truly been achieved.”
He adds that the focus now is on the future – expansion plans include increasing the number of businesses involved, followed by an increase in the number of interns participating.
Three of the interns from the first intake have been offered permanent employment by DFS Duty Free and general manager Julian Bottaro says he has been impressed by the students’ attitude and capability.
“We are showing our interns the sky is the limit. They can work for a multi-national company and, if they work hard, in 10 years who knows where they will be. They could be general manager.”
MIT travel and tourism student Hayley Lockhart is one of the interns to be employed at DFS and her flexible roster means she can continue to study part time. Hayley was nominated as employee for the month in December, while on her internship, and Julian says she has a real talent for sales.
A second lot of interns will be placed next summer and the possibility of a mid-year intake is also being explored.