Chamber chief executive Dougal McGowan told the Otago Daily Times the main reason holding up business expansion in the region was the lack of skilled staff available for employment.
The situation had been ongoing for several years without much progress and Mr McGowan was asked what action the chamber could take.
An independent group was being brought in to look at the issue and prepare a report and survey for the chamber. The survey would be then sent out to businesses, employers, employees and future employees, such as school pupils and tertiary students.
It was already clear some people wanted to work five days a week, while others preferred to work 12 hours a day for three days a week, he said.
He had been working with the Ministry of Education and New Zealand Qualifications Authority to ensure businesses had a say in what they wanted from school leavers and tertiary graduates in terms of skills and qualifications, Mr McGowan said.
"So far, there has been a mismatch. When was the last time you studied the academic record of someone and took any notice rather than hire on skills and ability?"
In the next five years, Dunedin had the ability to lead the country in opportunities for workers through the building of the new Dunedin Hospital and other construction projects, he said.
The key was keeping in regular contact with schools, Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago to ensure everyone knew what opportunities were coming up.
"We need to retain our best and brightest right here rather than have them look north or overseas for opportunities. We need a talent group of our own people."
There had been a change in the way people in Dunedin wanted to work. Some young people talked about "jobs" rather than a career, Mr McGowan said.
Some working in the "gig economy" preferred fixed-term contracts so they could do other things with their lives in between those contracts.
Others talked about working for six to 18 months in an organisation, taking some time off and returning to the same organisation in a different role.
Today, the chamber was sending out a confidence survey to its members, Mr McGowan said.
April and May had been steady months for members but June was likely to show quieter activity, especially for retailers, Mr McGowan said.
There was a trend of businesses becoming less confident about their futures and there was interest in how the lack of confidence would translate to future profits.
Consumer confidence was falling, which meant households were borrowing and spending less, Mr McGowan said.
