Press Release
New Zealand jobs for Kiwis? Right or wrong...

In response to the Campbell Live programme aired last week Tuesday, “New Zealand jobs for Kiwis? Right or wrong...” the Auckland Regional Migrant Services Charitable Trust (ARMS) would like to comment on the programme and add that skilled migrants have contributed significantly to the development of New Zealand workforce over the past decade in particular, to the New Zealand’s economy, with its skills shortages and high out flows of NZ born citizens, has been dependent on attracting qualified and motivated migrants to our shores.

The first people of New Zealand, the Maori, arrived here just 800 years ago, and ever since we have been a nation of immigrants, welcoming them for their skills, their capital, and their new ideas.

Despite the advent of tougher economic times, there are still major skill gaps in some areas of our economy. A recent Business New Zealand survey indicated that astute employers are doing all they can to maintain and recruit skilled staff, with a full third of all businesses still experiencing a shortage of skilled staff despite the recession.

On 2 March 2009, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) introduced various changes to the government’s immigration policy. The Long Term Skill Shortage List (LTSSL) has been updated with the addition of new occupations. LTSSL are occupations in which New Zealand has a significant shortage of skilled workers. Skilled migrants are carefully screened through point systems to show that their current employment or offer of employment meets the specifications of the LTSSL and that they are suitably qualified or experienced for the New Zealand context.

As a not-for-profit organisation which supports migrants and refugees to settle successfully in the Auckland Region, ARMS advocates for the right for migrants to be given an equal opportunity with New Zealand born kiwis when it comes to employment and retention.

Not only is it not good business practice but it is also unreasonable to pose a closed ‘a wrong and a right’ question such as: Are New Zealand jobs for Kiwis?

ENDS

© Scoop Media