Employment in NZ

Hi,

Just a quick question.

We will be moving to NZ soon, hopefully around September. We were talking about jobs the other day and after reading another post I wondered if anyone who has moved already found any problems in that employers/agencies prefer kiwis to Brits?

It had never really crossed my mind before and I wondered what your experiences were.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Shaz,

I think it could often be a case of kiwi companies having to show that they can't fill a vacant position with a kiwi first, before turning to an immigrant.

If it were up to them alone, I'm sure they'd just want to employ the person best equipped to do the job for the right price whether kiwi or immigrant. I think it's just that they have to, through some law or other, give priority to a kiwi applicant before selecting an outsider. If they can prove they can't find a suitable kiwi, then they are free to take on someone else.

Hi Shaz,

I think it could often be a case of kiwi companies having to show that they can't fill a vacant position with a kiwi first, before turning to an immigrant.

I think only applies to non residents.

Thanks for your replies, fingers crossed there shouldn't be any problems.

Shaz

Good news for some.

Government to welcome more immigrants
11.00am Friday June 30, 2006

The number of immigrants accepted into the country is being raised to meet the need for more skilled workers, the Government said today.

It will also start to recognise skills from applicants in India and China for the first time.

The total number of places available to immigrants will be at least 47,000 and up to 52,000 in the 2006-07 year.

That is the highest number since 2001-02, Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said.

'More vacancies will be filled. This will help employers who continue to say skill shortages are a constraint to the growth of their businesses, and will contribute to economic growth,' he said.

Mr Cunliffe also announced a policy change that will give migrants with work experience in areas of 'absolute skill shortage' more points to qualify for residence permits.

Those work areas are defined as worldwide shortages that show little sign of easing, and include IT professionals, plumbers and engineers.

From July 24, work experience in countries previously considered to have non-comparable labour markets, such as India and China, will be recognised in the absolute skill shortage areas.

Applicants will still have to hold recognised qualifications and meet New Zealand registration requirements in their occupations.

- NZPA

Woohoo!

[smiley=icon_biggrin.gif]
I'm still waiting on my US Passport to arrive so I can complete my EoI ... but this is GREAT news! I wasn't really too worried before, since I'm a secondary teacher with 10 years experience and an advanced degree, but I didn't want to take anything for granted. [smiley=icon_biggrin.gif]

Bosses leave migrants to flounder
Friday July 21, 2006
By Brian Fallow

Most employers agree there are barriers to migrants participating in the workforce but are doing nothing about them, a survey shows. Recruitment firm Hudson asked 1705 employers whether barriers existed for migrants working or seeking work, and found those saying yes outnumbered those saying no four to one.

Most - 78 per cent - cited non-technical skills, especially communication, as the biggest problem. Only in professional services and, to a lesser extent, utilities, were technical skills cited as an issue, and then only by one in five or one in six firms respectively.

To be granted work or residency permits, skilled immigrants must have achieved minimum language and professional qualification standards, and are mostly from jobs identified as long- or medium-terms shortages, the Hudson survey says. Yet many people who are doing the hiring do not consider these candidates as ready to fit into their New Zealand organisations.

Hudson's staff find employers more open to using foreigners in back-office roles. But it is a different story when people interact with customers. The accent matters.

Hudson's survey found fewer than a quarter of employers had formal integration or settlement programmes for migrant employees. About the same proportion gave informal support.

New migrants in small companies - those with fewer than 20 staff - are unlikely to get formal or informal support. Seven out of 10 such companies told the survey they did nothing specific.

The Hudson survey cites Labour Department projections that in 15 years, a quarter of the workforce will have been born outside New Zealand. 'But migrants still find it difficult to find work in New Zealand and those who do are often placed in jobs well below their skill level,' it says.

This is despite a labour market which, despite an economic downturn, remains tight and is expected by the Department of Labour to stay that way.

The net inflow of permanent and long-term, migrants bottomed out in October last year, and is now back in line with its long-term average of 10,000 a year.Hudson says employers are in a bind.

Many young New Zealanders are going overseas, growth is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers and unemployment is close to a record low. 'Unless employers find ways of accessing the skills of non-traditional talent pools such as new migrants, the problem will show no signs of diminishing.'

Most migrants in its experience were prepared to learn new skills or acclimatise to the New Zealand way of doing things and made it through recruiter screening only to fall at the final, hiring step.

'While many migrants are satisfied eventually with their work and lifestyle in New Zealand, some 22,000 a year are leaving the country because their expectations were not met,' the survey said.

40pc struggle with work/life balance
24 July 2006

More than a third of employees work extra hours in their own time to get their jobs done, with one in five workers clocking up more than 50 hours a week, a new report has found. Some 40 per cent of workers say they want more flexible working hours.

The report, by Lindy Fursman of the Labour Department, looks at work/life balance and notes that workers want flexible start and finish times and more leave, both paid and unpaid.

Forty per cent of workers had difficulty getting the balance they wanted and 46 per cent experienced some degree of work-life conflict. However, 52 per cent of workers rated their work-life balance as good to excellent, the report found.

''Workers want flexible start and finish times and more leave ? both paid and unpaid. They also want more choice about the way they work, including having more input into rosters?

Asked about which initiatives were the most helpful to them, 79 per cent said having flexible start and finish times. Other initiatives were knowing they could leave in an emergency (50 per cent), having minor variations in start and finish times (39 per cent) and using sick/domestic leave to look after family members (39 per cent).

Employers commonly:
? Allowed workers to occasionally vary start and finish times;
? Let workers use personal sick leave to care for others;
? Provided flexible break provisions;
? Allowed study leave.

The report found senior staff or management were the most likely workers to be offered work-life initiatives. The report said working long hours, varied hours and rotating shift work made work-life balance harder to achieve. It said 19 per cent of employees worked more than 50 hours per week while 37 per cent frequently worked extra hours in their own time.

Almost 60 per cent of employees said aspects of their workplace culture made work-life balance harder to achieve, particularly the expectations of colleagues, workmates, managers and supervisors.

The report found 55 per cent of employers said there were no barriers to put them off having flexible working arrangements, although some said they needed to have everyone in the workplace at the same time (40 per cent), or that the arrangements were too complicated (33 per cent) or too expensive (17 per cent).

Dr Fursman looked at two national surveys, one involving 1100 employers and the other 2000 employees, for her report. Labour Minister Ruth Dyson said she was heartened that employers were open to considering new ways of organising their workplaces.

The report was launched at a forum in Wellington today hosted by the minister in association with the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, Business New Zealand and the Council of Trade Unions.

Ms Dyson said work-life balance was about managing the 'juggling act' between paid work and other activities important to people ? including spending time with family, taking part in sport and recreation, volunteering or undertaking further study.

She noted that 41 per cent of employees said work sometimes or often made it difficult to enjoy and spend quality time with their families, and 46 per cent sometimes or often found it hard to get home on time.

She said that with unemployment levels expected to remain under 5 per cent for the foreseeable future, workplaces needed to be more flexible to continue to attract and retain employees.

Two years ago, the Government launched its Work-Life Balance Project aimed at improving the work-life balance for New Zealanders and Ms Dyson said the report and today's summit were part of that.

-NZPA