New Zealand is harshly facing the issue of lacking immigrant workers. It has been seen a great scarcity of immigrant workers in various business sectors of Mackenzie District. The mayor of the district Graham Smith said due to a scarcity of workers, businesses are demanding major alteration to the immigration policies to tackle the issue of lacking skilled workers.
The issue of the requirement of immigrant workers has become the focus of attention even as the Mackenzie District is also struggling with the same problem. This involves that its dependency is increasing on skilled immigrant, as quoted by the Stuff Co NZ.
Speaking out on the need of skilled persons in Mackenzie District, Wendy Smith the CEO of South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce said the district must have exemption for skills that are in shortage similar to what prevails in Queenstown.
For Skill level- roles in Queenstown under ANZSCO- 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 ensures that no Kiwis are available for these job roles. However, there is a list of jobs that are exempt from this process in Queenstown. Employers are not bound to contact Work and Income if the job roles belong to exemption list. Instead, they need to offer evidence with an application for the Work Visa that they have advertised the job role. The Queenstown exemption list comprises 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. She further added that SCCC will collaborate with the Social Development Ministry and Immigration New Zealand to take this forward.
While saying on the same issue, the CEO of SCCC said that the process of getting the exemption list for Mackenzie District could be a detailed and long-drawn process. She informed that it took Queenstown almost 18 months to complete this.