‘We need immigrant workers’ say NZ Businesses

Immigrant Workers are needed by the businesses in Mackenzie District, New Zealand said Graham Smith the Mayor of the Mackenzie District. He said that there is a scarcity of workers in the district. Thus, the businesses are demanding major alterations to the immigration policies to cater to the scarcity of skilled workers.

The issue of the need of immigrant workers has become the focus of attention even as the Mackenzie District is struggling to fill some roles with local workers. This implies that its dependency is increasing on skilled immigrant workers, as quoted by the Stuff Co NZ.

Wendy Smith the CEO of South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce said that Mackenzie District must have an exemption for skills that are in shortage similar to what prevails in Queenstown.

For skill level 4-5 roles in Queenstown under ANZSCO - New Zealand and Australia Standard Classification of Occupations, employers are normally required to contact Work and Income. This is to assure that no Kiwis are available for these job roles. Nevertheless, there is also a list of jobs that are exempt from this process in Queenstown.

Employers are not required to contact Work and Income if the job roles are on the exemption list. Instead, they need to offer proof with the application for the Work Visa that they have advertised the job role. As of now, the Queenstown exemption list includes outdoor adventure guides, baristas, bartenders, courier drivers, and truck drivers for all classes.

Having a similar list of exemptions in Mackenzie District will assist to ease the pressure of scarcity of workers, said Smith. SCCC will collaborate with the Social Development Ministry and Immigration New Zealand to take this forward, she added.

The CEO of SCCC added that the process of getting the exemption list for Mackenzie District will be a detailed and long drawn process. It took Queenstown almost 18 months to complete this, she informed.

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