Everyone is so different I find within this company. I think personally I was very nervous to be a young female to be entering a male predominant industry but have found there is so much support and everyone is willing to help especially when it comes to the heavy lifting things. Within the orchards our RSE’S are all from different countries, such as we have a lot of Samoans but also Tongans and every now and again back packers for casual work. There is always going to be that range of diversity within the orchards and this is a huge aspect to embrace also.
We hire ALL people that is able to work and want to work regardless of gender , ethnic , etc
The company doesn’t discriminate it terms of who it hires and any career progression with those people.
I can't really answer this as a bigger wider company question, as I am not sure of the workplace culture of other sectors of the business. I can say that from my workplace, we do have a wide group of permanent workers. They have different backgrounds and come from different parts of the world. We have always gone for people that have passion and the desire to learn and do better. I have been on this site for a high number of years and in this time I have seen people come and go. Some have moved up in the company to other positions, some have gone on to other companies, some have left to do something different with their lives. I would hope that I have helped with their development in some way. I have had two children in my time here. They are 3 years apart and both born in November. This was planned, so that I was back at work for harvest. Both my children were in childcare at 3 months old, I am not the type to stay home, I needed to be at work and be productive. This was more my personal choice and it was something that worked for me.