Otago Southland Employers Association chief executive Virginia Nicholls said yesterday the changes would help define what a lower-skilled employee was. The changes would also restrict lower-skilled migrant employees to a three-year visa with a stand-down period before becoming eligible for a new visa.
Any migrant earning less than $41,538 a year would be considered lower-skilled and would be subject to the stand-down period. Partners and children of lower-skilled visa holders would have to meet visa conditions in their own right to be able to come to New Zealand.
"The changes strike a balance between ensuring jobs for New Zealanders and enabling businesses to access the staff they need."
Every year, employers of lower-skilled migrants would have to prove to Immigration NZ no New Zealanders were available to do the jobs — as they now had to do through the labour market test. Where no New Zealanders were available, employers would still be able to access migrants for those jobs — both skilled and unskilled, Mrs Nicholls said.
"This is helpful as many businesses in many industries are struggling to fill job vacancies."
New Zealand businesses needed access to both skilled and unskilled labour to be internationally competitive. It was reassuring the Government had listened to business and industry while developing the changes, she said.
Mr Woodhouse said the changes were made following an extensive consultation process. About 170 submissions were received. The Government wanted to strike the right balance between ensuring New Zealanders were at the front of the queue for jobs and making sure the regions had access to temporary migrant labour necessary for sustained economic growth, he said.
The consultation process uncovered a misunderstanding about what the changes meant in terms of employers’ ability to continue to access lower-skilled migrants, he said.
He reassured employers the changes announced yesterday were not designed to reduce the number of migrants coming into New Zealand on temporary work visas.
Employers would continue to be able to employ migrant workers where there were genuine labour or skill shortages. However, the changes would help provide clarity around the conditions under which temporary migrants came to New Zealand, Mr Woodhouse said.
