Govt set to greenlight skilled foreign workers
The construction sector is about to have its immigration policy settings tweaked, opening up the gates for much needed tradies.
Several industries have been lobbying Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway to allow them to bring in more foreign workers to meet their needs.
Sunday Star-Times understands announcement is imminent about construction sector policy changes.
In its 2017 election campaign, Labour said it would focus on infrastructure and housing while taking a breather on immigration.
The Minister said there was a "crisis with housing", and now some parts of the country were crying out for workers.
National immigration spokesman, Michael Woodhouse, accused the Government of hypocrisy. "They haven’t done anything in eight months and they never intended to reduce the net migration. It’s obvious because they have done nothing to reduce the number of migrants."
The Chinese bore the brunt of the campaign Labour ran to get votes, Woodhouse said. "Whenever an Aucklander couldn’t buy a house they wanted at an auction, if someone looked different to them, it was easier to point the blame at them."
Lees-Galloway pointed the finger at National for the issues in Auckland, and said the Government would be taking a regional approach to immigration.
"The previous Government caused this crisis we are in now with housing, and an partly it is because most of the immigrants have moved to Auckland. There are other parts of the country crying out for workers."
Although employment was sitting around 4 per cent, under-utilisation was at 12 per cent, he said.
That meant there were a lot of skilled people doing jobs that did not require their strengths – including those in the later stages of their working life.
While the construction sector is set to get policy tweaks to allow for more migrant workers, the aged-care sector has been lobbying LeesGalloway for more people.
Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace said the sector wanted the Government to change lower-skilled worker visa settings, brought in by the National-led government, which called for a 12-month stand down after working in New Zealand for three years.
"We want to get rid of the three-year visa issue. It’s a dumb policy, the minister knows its a dumb policy – he said it in December," Wallace said.
The aged-care workforce employs about 70 per cent Kiwis, 30 per cent foreigners.
The sector needed 1000 extra people every year for the next 10 years to keep up with demand, Wallace said.
"Right now we are dealing with a low unemployment rate, and pay equity hasn’t done anything. Aged-care work is not seen as attractive work.
"You either have to change policy or unemployment needs to drastically increase to deal with the lack of carers. And I don’t think anybody wants that."