Lincoln Tan: Finding jobs now more difficult for Asian immigrants

Last week, a colleague, originally from China, received his New Zealand passport, and is full of hope and optimism at the start of his new life.

But a friend, originally from Malaysia, packed up and left for Australia - seven years after he became a New Zealander.

This friend, a civil engineer in his 40s, had struggled to find gainful employment and has been offered a job in Melbourne in line with his qualifications. He thought it was an opportunity too good to be missed.

Although he qualified for New Zealand residency because of his qualifications and experience, the only work he could get was as a supermarket assistant and part-time delivery person for a grocery shop.

He told me he had migrated here with big hopes of a better life and prosperity for his family but after seven years, they had depleted their savings.

Although he was settled here, he said he had to move and start all over again for practical reasons.

Much as I hate to see him leave, I could understand what he was saying. Finding work is one of the biggest challenges facing Asian migrants, and the situation seems to be getting worse.

The Social Report, published by the Ministry of Social Development last week, shows Asians and other ethnic minorities have plunged from the second best employment rate of 72 per cent in 1986 to the lowest last year at 59 per cent.

The same report also said Asians had a higher poverty rate than Maori and Pakeha - because of this high unemployment - and many lived in households earning less than 60 per cent of the median income.

There has been a significant increase in Asian investment since 1987, thanks to this country's immigration policies. Asian dollars have created jobs for many Kiwis. The irony is that Asians living here continue to be left out.

A few weeks ago, another colleague interviewed a civil engineer with a masters degree and nine years' experience supervising the construction of bridges, ports and dams in China.

Even after getting an English degree from AUT University and a post-graduate diploma in civil engineering from Auckland University, she could not get a job even as a technician.

Every time I hear such stories, I feel for these people because I was once in their shoes. I remember how hard it was to get a job as a journalist when I came in 1997.

I remember the brick wall I had to bang my head against to try to convince a community newspaper where I had applied for the position of a cub reporter, that the standard of English at Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes newspapers such as the Straits Times, could match those of the North Shore Times.

I was told I did not get the job because I did not have Kiwi experience - whatever that was - and I had to go through the hard and expensive way of launching my own newspaper just to prove I could deliver as a reporter.

Last week, the Confederation of Trade Unions proclaimed unemployment in New Zealand remains the lowest in the OECD. New Zealand may be celebrating but obviously not the thousands of migrants who are still struggling to find decent work.

The unions also said today's unemployment figures clearly indicate National's 90-day unemployment bill is redundant.

They may rubbish Wayne Mapp's bill to introduce a 90-day probationary period for new workers, but how I wished I had those 90 days to prove myself - and not have to go through the expensive 999-day journey to prove I was worthy to continue working as a journalist in New Zealand.

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said last month the focus of skilled immigration policy is being shifted from passive acceptance to active recruitment of skills New Zealand needs by boosting the skilled migrant category and lifting the quota. But what happens after migrants arrive here?

Say there was a shortage of 100 engineers, and we had 100 migrating to New Zealand. Would employers be prepared to give them a chance?

If they didn't, we would probably just end up getting 100 more super-skilled taxi drivers who could explain complex roading systems to their passengers.

Professor Alfred Oehlers, of AUT's department of economics, talked of the Hudson Recruitment Survey in his column in iBall. He said in 1708 companies surveyed, 80 per cent of employers said they thought migrants faced obstacles in the labour market.

Seventy-eight per cent thought communication skills were the most significant barrier, which resulted in migrants being placed in back office roles where they had less interaction with the public, or were placed in jobs well below their skill levels.

An article in the NZ Listener said the good times for New Zealand were already over and Kiwis were among the lowest paid in the developed world.

Would it really be possible to recapture the Golden Age of the 1980s again? Is there a future being Asian in New Zealand?

I think my answer to the above questions is yes, but two things need to happen.

There needs to be a fundamental change in the mindset of employers to see migrants as resources who will help to contribute to their businesses and New Zealand, and not to turn a blind eye to the added value these employees bring.

The second is for migrants to mean what they say in calling New Zealand home.

Home is not just about enjoying the good, but also having the gumption and guts to ride out the bad times. We should not opt for the first plane out when faced with obstacles.

If we cannot change our mindsets, we will just end up losers, all of us.