How Can NZ Employers Stay Competitive in the Global Job Market?

With the governments focusing on streamlining our immigration process, we have seen several fundamental changes to align with their vision of our future workforce. 

The Government is rebalancing New Zealand's immigration system to increase New Zealand's business productivity and increase the amount of highly skilled workers to support our economy's growth. 

NZ immigration policy changes focus on reducing critical skill shortages and boosting the economy, which is approached through various work, investment and residency visa changes.

With the new framework in mind and New Zealand's 50th place in the global economy, how do New Zealand employers attract and retain employees from our little corner of the world?

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Why Are New Zealand Employers Struggling to Fill Labour Gaps?

New Zealand's labour shortage isn't a new issue. However, it has worsened for employers and businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry due to the impact of Covid-19. 

Our remote island nation has struggled with labour shortages for some time. However, there are two distinct reasons for continuing issues that impact New Zealand's business growth – New Zealand citizens are finding higher-paid jobs overseas and the effects of border closure over the last two years. 

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The Brain Drain

As a country already synonymous with the impact of our pre-COVID brain drain, employers are already aware that employing and retaining Kiwis can be tricky.  

New Zealand citizens are enjoying a high rate of employment. However, this has not lessened our labour gaps in many sectors. For example, data from Statistics NZ state that job ads are 33% higher than before March 2020, when the borders closed. 

Highly-skilled New Zealanders are making the move overseas to gain a higher wage. Australia and UK are filling their labour gaps and attracting workers with higher wages compared to NZ employers. They then gain the experience and expertise of emigrant New Zealand workers. 

For the year ending June, the net permanent and long-term migration outflows were 11,500 people (10,710 aged between 15-64). This is compared with net inflows of 91,700 (70,680 aged between 15-64) in March 2020. This is significantly lower than in pre-COVID years. However, a recent MYOB survey of workers considering moving overseas suggested that 50% were considering leaving due to higher salaries. Money is a significant factor in why there is a continuous rise in people leaving. 

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The COVID Effect

Labour shortages, specifically due to the closure of our borders for two years, have reduced the pool of immigrants who have been supporting our businesses, which in turn significantly reduced our workforce.‍

Generally, there has been a labour shortage in New Zealand for quite some time. However, due to travel restrictions implemented during the first stages of the pandemic and the resulting closure of New Zealand's borders in March 2020, this problem has compounded for New Zealand employers. ‍

New Zealand's workforce before 2020 had been topped up with migrant workers entering on visas such as the skilled migrant visa NZ. However, coupled with the after-effects of the closure, we are still seeing major employment gaps across the board. New immigration policies have caused further delays for New Zealand employers, which are not expected to improve until 2023. Permanent and long-term arrivals were expected to reach 100,000 by late next year compared with just less than 50,000 in the year ending June.

New Zealand's economy desperately needs more people from overseas to fill vacancies. Immigration NZ introduced a Green List to prioritise some specific skilled labour roles. However, this is not a quick road to recovery for our Kiwi companies.

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What Will Employees Look For In 2023?

For New Zealand companies to compete with the global and national players to attract employees, they need to maintain a competitive edge. 

New Zealand businesses struggling to fill critical, highly skilled roles must look at the international job market and understand what would drive an individual to accept a role. 

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The Full Package, Not Just the Competitive Salary

If employers want to remain attractive to job seekers, they need to focus on offering the "full package" and not just the money. For a company to make an impact when it comes to recruiting, it's how they market their company, not just their roles. 

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Flexible Schedule

As most of the world has now returned to a relatively normal way of life, workers are demanding more trust from their employers and flexibility with where they work. Working from home for some has been proven to lift productivity. 

A mixture of work from home and office is now very attractive to the Post-COVID worker. The benefits of a flexible schedule and hybrid working scheme allow the worker to socialise with co-workers and find a better level of productivity and comfort whilst working from home. 

This allows them to work around their families, which leads to a better work-life balance. 

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Work-Life Balance

With New Zealand's landscape and outdoor recreational lifestyle, an employer can embrace the ethos of a better work-life balance to attract candidates. Company-wide rules also help to promote the ability to have a better work-life balance. 

Positive 'employee-first' policies such as 'no work-related emails after 5 pm', annual leave for birthdays or mental health days can support good company culture and attract new candidates. 

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Better Company Culture

A company that places importance on its employees' health and well-being is an excellent way to attract top talent. This may be represented in the health and wellness programmes that are available to the staff, the cultural days the employers hold for its employees, and even down to supplying fruit for the staff canteen. 

Focusing on employee care and pride in the company can attract and retain loyal staff for many years. By listening to your staff and addressing any negative influences, your staff are more likely to recommend and promote you as a company.

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What Can Employers Do to Attract Skilled Workers?

Scaling for New Zealand businesses will now more than ever mean attracting highly skilled workers within their industry who have experience in big markets. 

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The Guide to Hiring Skilled Migrants Successfully

Here are tips on attracting and hiring the right people for your job. 

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Write Good Job Advertisements

Ensure you write an exciting and emotive advert to promote the benefits of your company and why yours stands out over the competitors. Include the benefits the candidate will receive so that they understand more about what life could be like for them if they are successful with their application. 

Write a clear and specific job description that overseas candidates can understand. Of course, you want to write for your target audience, which will be those with experience in your industry, so be sure to include key details like the nature of the role, leave entitlements, salary range and a clear job title. Vague job advertisements may not grab the attention of the right candidate. 

Read more about how to promote jobs overseas.

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Build A Comprehensive Employee Package

Looking at the international and domestic competition can give you an understanding of what may have been successful for them in attracting candidates. For example, do they have 4-day working weeks or healthcare? Do they have a commission or bonus structure in place? 

With employees spending half their waking hours in your employment, rewarding them with extra perks of working with you can help shift the needle when it comes to a person saying yes to you. In the end, if you reward them with few working hours, they may be more inclined to say yes to you rather than a competitor offering more money. 

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Provide Development Opportunities

A clear path of progression is important to many employees ready to dedicate themselves to a role. Understanding that pathway from the beginning and illustrating how your company can empower that progression is a valuable commodity when hiring a worker. 

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Support Migrants in the Transition

If you are looking to hire a migrant worker, consider how they may feel taking this big step to move to this little island in the Pacific. Promoting how your company will help them make this move from the get-go can help smooth the decision-making process. 

Some employers help financially with relocation, whilst under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) regulations, employers are asked to help provide assistance for finding accommodation and support the migrant's transition with knowledge of what it's like to live and work in New Zealand.

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Get Licensed Immigration Advice Today

Whether you're thinking of hiring a new employee who is planning to move to New Zealand or if you're hiring someone already on a work visa nz, 

Malcolm Pacific Immigration can help you understand the visa process and take the stress away to let you focus on your business. We have an employer services team on standby and ready to help. 

Get in touch with us today!