The coalition government announced on Thursday it was providing immediate relief to employers with upcoming seasonal peaks by creating a new sub-category of the specific purpose work visa (SPWV).
The government is also making changes to the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, increasing the number of workers allowed into the country to 20,750, a rise of 1250. Workers have to be employed for a minimum of 30 hours a week but this can now be spread across four weeks.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said the new sub-category of the specific purpose work visa would create a time-limited and streamlined pathway for seasonal workers who were not involved in horticulture. There are rules and requirements around the visa.
But it was just another change and they seemed to be occurring all the time, The Rees Hotel & Luxury Apartments chief executive Mark Rose said.
Successive government changes in immigration had led to modifications at the hotel.
"The constant changes in immigration policy has made us take our hotel occupancy from 100% to 80% and reduce our staff from 120 to 85."
The government was losing out on revenue from GST and other taxes because of the drop in occupancy of the hotel, he said. The amount of money and time saved by not having to deal with so many immigration and staff issues for the hotel was about the same as the loss of the extra customers.
Staff issues would never go away, he said.
"We might get 100 replies to a job and then get told they need a certain type of visa and that immediately gets culled to 10."
Overseas workers did not have the money or time to work through the process to get a visa, he said. New Zealanders were like hen’s teeth — just too hard to get due to accommodation issues and cost.
"That is sad really. You want staff who can stay for a decent period, so when someone comes back to stay the next year they know staff. But it just doesn’t happen.
"Anything to do with immigration ... they just seem to change it every 18 months, which seems crazy.
"We seem to go from one policy to the next. It seems to change with the wind."
What was needed was an agreement between the two main parties which would give some certainty to the sector, he said.
He had not studied the latest changes but accommodation in Queenstown needed workers of all kinds — from cleaners to managers — for 12 months a year, he said.
The Gate general manager Glen Christiansen welcomed the changes and said although hospitality was doing it tough staff were still needed.
The business has accommodation in Cromwell and Queenstown.
People were still coming in and summer was going to be busy, Mr Christiansen said.
"The planes are still flying into Queenstown — people are still coming. And with the summer, people want to get out.
"We have staff and they have to have time off. You want to give them time off but you have to have someone to work still."
Tarras mining operation Santana Minerals was looking at housing workers in Cromwell, which might lead to increased business, he said.
