NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

Work visa changes cuts both ways

By Brent Melville
BusinessDesk·
16 Jul, 2020 01:06 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Changes to work visas focused on getting more Kiwis into jobs are a double-edged sword, hindering recruitment while making it more difficult for business and industry to hang onto skilled, productive workers, say immigration specialists.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway last week announced a six-month extension to temporary work visas – a move that provided employers with a measure of certainty that they would have access to workers in the short term and the ability to plan for the future.

But Immigration New Zealand also cut the 12-month lower-paid essential skills work visas in half to six months and quietly abandoned the Australian and NZ standard classification of occupations - ANZSCO - standard, reverting to a pure remuneration threshold as a condition for entry.

Yesterday, the agency added several occupations to the list of 44 skills that fall under the skills level exception test. New entrants will include aged or disabled carers, bicycle mechanics, drillers and nursing support workers and announced updated criteria for essential skills work visas,

The move towards using a median wage threshold to decide how long someone can stay on an essential skills visa was greeted positively by BusinessNZ, which had long considered ANZSCO as clumsy, reliant on interpretation by immigration officials and "not fit for purpose" by modern business standards.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Under those occupational standards, Immigration NZ approved a total of 197,785 entries for the year to June 2020. While this was well down on the 242,366 for last year as a result of Covid-related border shutdowns, the problematic nature of the categories was reflected in the number of 'not recorded' approvals where no standard was met. That was well over half of all approvals, at 123,339 versus 162,145 in the 'non category' last year.

Rachel Simpson, manager for education, skills and immigration at BusinessNZ, said the bigger issue was in ensuring a flow of "otherwise unavailable" workers critical to supporting the economic recovery.

"We are short of a lot of the critical skills necessary to our recovery and companies which are prepared to invest need the confidence to know they can access specialist expertise from overseas."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nor did the country need "kneejerk reactions" to protect local jobs during labour market shortages where companies could end up losing skilled workers, she said.

Sensible approach needed

"Regardless of who is in the role, whether it's a New Zealander or not, it takes a while to train and get up to speed," so access to an international pool is important, she said. "We just need a sensible approach."

Aaron Martin, principal immigration lawyer at NZ Immigration Law, said another implication of the revised entry standards was that, effective from July 27, the 'low skilled' baseline will be bumped up from $21.68 per hour under the ANZSCO skills equivalent level to $25.50 per hour.

Martin said that meant mid-skilled people eligible for a three-year visa under current rules, would be assessed as being a low skilled worker if paid below $25.50 and only able to get an 18-month visa that has to be renewed every six months, provided the labour market test was met.

"The dollar figure shouldn't be a proxy for skills as salary doesn't always reflect a person's importance to a business, their job ability, or even where they work. You might end up in the bizarre situation that someone on the West Coast, doing the same thing as a worker in Auckland, will end up on the six-month merry-go-round versus qualifying for a three-year visa, simply because of regional salary differences."

Additionally, he said employers who want to fill lower paid roles will also need a skills-match report from the Ministry of Social Development before employing a migrant worker.

"That will likely prove to be frustrating, time consuming and expensive, because it's going to lock employers into a continuous round of recruitment processes and engaging with MSD."

Intended as a deterrent

Martin said outside the hassle factor, there was also a financial implication, with people and businesses having to make repeated applications at $495 apiece.

Ultimately, he said the changes were intended to deter employers from using migrants rather than New Zealanders to fill low-skilled positions by putting applications in the "too hard" basket.

Martin said the government position presumed that employees were a "replaceable commodity," when in reality the issue was more about transferable skills. "An unemployed airline pilot isn't going to necessarily take up a job at Countdown."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Nor does it acknowledge that increased numbers of unemployed does not correspond to increased numbers with the skills and qualifications employers need. Employers are looking for particular areas of knowledge or experience and that's not necessarily going to be readily available just because we've had an increase in unemployment."

The other issue, he said, was that Kiwis weren't compelled to take up jobs, and could go onto an unemployment benefit.

"There is no threat to a person's benefit if they don't take a job that they could readily do – so government is now denying businesses the ability to get a work visa for a valued employee, but won't compel a New Zealander to actually take the job."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Property

Ikea opening: Kiwi Property plans for traffic mitigation at Sylvia Park

01 Jul 10:57 PM
Business

Supermarket giant warned for ‘likely’ breaking grocery competition law

01 Jul 09:06 PM
New Zealand

Prices continue to slide in latest GDT

01 Jul 09:05 PM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Ikea opening: Kiwi Property plans for traffic mitigation at Sylvia Park

Ikea opening: Kiwi Property plans for traffic mitigation at Sylvia Park

01 Jul 10:57 PM

'Ikea is likely to open around the Christmas trading period at the end of this year.'

Supermarket giant warned for ‘likely’ breaking grocery competition law

Supermarket giant warned for ‘likely’ breaking grocery competition law

01 Jul 09:06 PM
Prices continue to slide in latest GDT

Prices continue to slide in latest GDT

01 Jul 09:05 PM
Premium
Surf park developers win fast-track referral for 400+ homes

Surf park developers win fast-track referral for 400+ homes

01 Jul 09:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP