Reopening of border hailed as ‘godsend’
Some Southland employers are hailing the border reopening as a ‘‘godsend,’’ but expectations are tempered as they navigate immigration processes.
New Zealand’s borders fully reopened to travellers from anywhere in the world yesterday – more than two years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. With a regional unemployment rate of 2.6% – below the national average of 3.2% – Southland businesses are grateful to have a bigger pool to recruit from.
Niagara Sawmilling Limited is looking forward to welcoming four new staff members from non visawaiver countries in the coming weeks.
KGR Group recruitment coordinator Jemma Cournane, who helps recruit for Niagara, said the business was expecting two maintenance engineers to arrive from South Africa, while two timber machinists from the Philippines were also on their way to Southland.
‘‘It’s definitely going to make things easier,’’ she said of the border reopening, ‘‘because we’ve struggled to identify the people with the skill sets that we need locally.’’
Invercargill Licensing
Trust chief executive Chris
Ramsay said the trust was in contact with migrant workers who had shown interest in coming to work in Southland, but ‘‘it’s fair to say that there’s still a bit to go through with immigration’’.
It would take time for the international labour pipeline to start flowing again he said, but the border reopening would provide a short-term solution with students and working holiday visa holders being allowed back to New Zealand to take on casual roles.
‘‘It’s a small step in the right direction when almost every business is struggling,’’ Ramsay said.
ILT’s business activity had returned to prepandemic levels, but the labour supply to keep up wasn’t there, he said. ‘‘It’s a remarkable situation that we find ourselves in.’’
Fuel station owner Steve Jo was also hoping the return of students would help him fill roles he was struggling to recruit for. Students were allowed to work restricted hours and were more suited to the night shifts in his business, he said.
Alliance Group manufacturing general manager Willie Wiese said the border reopening would allow the co-operative to recruit seasonal workers from abroad for its processing plants. ‘‘This arrival will also support the jobs and earning potential of hundreds of our Kiwi employees in our plants, which is great news for the local economy,’’ he said.