The changes to immigration settings announced by Government this morning have been applauded by the Tāmaki Makaurau Regional Skills Leadership Group say its co-chairs Awerangi Tamihere and Robert Reid.

The announcement gives the 165,000 migrant workers currently in Aotearoa NZ a pathway to residence.

Regional Skills Leadership Groups (RSLG) have been established by the Government in 15 regions of the country to advise Ministers and Officials on employment, vocational education and labour market issues at a regional level.

“Since our interim group was established last year, the Tāmaki Makaurau RSLG has been concerned with the status of migrant workers living in Aotearoa NZ, due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Awerangi Tamihere.

“We are aware from migrant workers and employers alike that the migrant worker skills are still in high demand and the exiting of such workers from the country on the expiration of their visas would lead to further major skill shortages,” says Robert Reid

“As part of its mandate, the interim RSLG has made repeated representation to Ministers and Immigration officials to allow those migrant workers in the country to be granted permanent residence and, when conditions allow, their families to be able to join them.

“We have also pointed out the predicament of migrant workers who had lost their job in the pandemic and were prevented from obtaining another job due to visa restrictions. Our concerns in that area led to some temporary changes in Work and Income benefit eligibility,” Robert Reid says

“I am very pleased to see these changes made today,” says Mandeep Bela, a migrant worker representative on the RSLG.

“There is still more to do, but these changes combined with the almost completion of the Former Refugees, Recent Migrants, and Ethnic Communities Employment Action Plan , finally provides a basis of certainty for many migrant workers who have lacked this certainty for so long. We hope that these changes will help eliminate the exploitation of migrant workers by reducing power imbalances created through precarious visa status. Overall, this is a step in the right direction for migrants, employers and the economy” Mandeep Bela says.

The RSLGs primary purpose is to identify and support better ways to meet future skills and workforce needs in the region through co-ordination and workforce planning. However there are some industry sectors like health, education and construction where skill needs are so great, and training for these skills takes many years that migrant workers will be required to fill these gaps.

“The Tāmaki Makaurau RSLG is currently developing a Regional Workforce Plan to identify current and future skill needs, identify local populations that can be trained for these needs and ensure that vocational education in the region is aligned to producing the skills required,” concludes Robert Reid.

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