Migrant Recruitment Offers New Pool of Skilled Workers in New Zealand

New Zealand has a significant skill shortage in some industries. Recruitment options for employers have become increasingly limited. Migrant recruitment now opens a new pool of skilled workers for New Zealand Businesses.

We are contacted daily by NZ business owners trying to recruit skilled tradesmen. Skilled workers are in serious demand – everywhere.

We know for sure that employees who are skilled or even close to being skilled in the trades & construction industry – where we place a lot of employees - are being well looked after by their current employer. Many have decided to start their own business while demand for skilled labour is high.

NZ employers are becoming more and more aware of skill shortages and the need to retain employees, and are now starting to experience business constraints due to the lack of skilled workers.

So, what is the solution where business growth is being hampered by skill shortage? Working existing employees harder or over longer hours will eventually and inevitably result in erosion of quality standards and loss of staff. External Contractors – if any are available, impacts on the bottom line. Neither of these options can be sustained long term. For positions requiring trade certification, internal training is not really an option. Employers are working harder and experiencing increasing levels of stress as productivity is increasingly under pressure.

Introducing skilled migrants specifically for your business is now a very viable option for employers. Skilled migrants from the Philippines are greatly in demand due to their relatively high level of skill, their positive work ethic and their apparent affinity with New Zealand & the Kiwi culture. We also see migrants from the UK, South Africa, Canada, Fiji, UAE, Singapore and India on our desks daily.

Thousands of skilled migrants have joined the NZ workforce in recent years – themselves causing a swell in the Construction Industry, as all of them must be accommodated – sometimes to specific requirements.

Employing skilled migrants can involve a lengthier than preferred process, red tape and costs but more often than not the outcome is that the employer will have the skilled workers they need to optimise business growth opportunities. Given that some employers in the construction industry have been advertising locally for over six months, recruitment of skilled migrants has become a viable and pragmatic business solution.

Larger firms in NZ working on projects such as the Christchurch Rebuild have been employing skilled migrants for some time. In fact, the majority of workers on the Christchurch rebuild are Filipinos. However, regardless of the size of the employer’s business, a set process must be followed. In the case of the employing migrants from the Philippines, all communication must be handled by an accredited Philippines Offshore Employment Agency (POEA) to ensure welfare standards of all migrants are met. Clear standards have been established by the Philippines Government and agreed to by the NZ Government.

Recruit NZ’s Migrant Recruitment Team can assist with recruitment of skilled workers from overseas and bring you up to speed on requirements. We work mainly (but not exclusively) with Filipino migrants for the Trades & Construction sector. Offshore partners source talent on our behalf and we manage the local communication and screening – inclusive of Visa application and processing if required through our licensed immigration partner VisaAide.

What this means for employers is that they can carry on running their business, while we take care of end to end migrant recruitment.

We are regularly asked to recruit for flooring layers, carpenters, brick and block layers, plasterers, CNC operators, plumbers and gas fitters, electricians, upholsterers and canvas fabricators.

Recruit NZ’s offshore partners are currently recruiting for thousands of skilled migrant positions in a labour pool in and from the Philippines of over 10 million people – the workers are definitely available, but the required process must be adhered to without exception.

If you would like to find out more, please contact us. We would be very happy to speak to you about how we can help resolve skill gaps in your business.