Kiwi Employers Will Find It More Onerous To Fill Lower-skilled Roles

An immigration lawyer says the latest changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) Scheme will make it more onerous for Kiwi employers to fill lower-skilled roles, as well as blow out processing times for Job Checks and visa applications.

Pitt & Moore immigration lawyer Elly Fleming said that she understands the intent of this week’s changes to the AEWV but is concerned about the negative consequences for employers trying to fill roles classified by Immigration New Zealand as ANZSCO Code Level 4 and 5 occupations.

“I understand Immigration Minister Stanford’s intent to protect migrants from exploitation and address the current high levels of migration, but the changes will hit good employers of lower-skilled roles hard,” she said.

“Employers in industries such as seafood processing, care workforce, hospitality, meat processing, agriculture, construction, transport, and others, will now struggle to fill roles, which will put pressure on these industries,” she said. “The changes also come into effect immediately, which will be a huge blow to employers and migrants already part way through the AEWV process.

“I have already been fielding calls today from upset employers, good employers, who need migrants to fill roles that they can’t find New Zealanders to fill,” she said.

“I also do not think these changes will altogether stop exploitation by unscrupulous employers that the Minister wants stopped. The same stricter rules concerning labour market test, qualifications, work experience, and English Language have been in place in Australia for many years, but migrant exploitation didn’t go away there, in fact it has been on the rise just like in New Zealand. A better way to stop exploitation would be to boost post accreditation checks and inspections and increase criminal penalties for unscrupulous employers.”

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