Immigrants miss boat

By ADAM GIFFORD

A survey identifying the way migrants are denied jobs has been seen as a wake-up call for employers concerned about surviving in the knowledge economy.

Equal Employment Opportunities Trust executive director Trudie McNaughton says that since the trust's survey of Sri Lankan migrants was released, several businesses have approached to say they had no idea of the available talent they were missing.

"They identified areas of skill shortage and asked us to put them in touch with recruitment consultants who are able to find those people or tap into migrant communities," Ms McNaughton says.

"I also heard from a highly-qualified migrant who has been unemployed for three years and had no interview in that time. He said after this material was released he was treated with dignity and respect by a recruitment consultant who had been at the release."

The survey by trust researcher Asoka Basnayake found 66 per cent of Sri Lankan migrants felt they had been discriminated against by employers, 56 per cent by recruitment consultants and 20 per cent by Work and Income New Zealand.

Almost all of the 114 respondents have degrees, mostly in engineering, science or accountancy, and 75 per cent have professional experience.

But a third were unemployed at the time of the survey and most of those in work said they had settled for lower positions than they previously held.

The Sri Lankan community was chosen because it is the ethic group with the highest rate of tertiary qualifications in New Zealand.

A third of those surveyed said their qualifications are not recognised, in some cases by the Qualifications Authority and in others by recruitment agencies and prospective employers. This is a problem even for those who earned some or all of their degree in Britain, the United States, Australia or Canada.

The migrants said some recruitment agents appear to discriminate against immigrants by placing undue weight on their "not having any New Zealand experience."

One respondent wrote: "Employers' 'paranoia' about immigrants should be cured.

"They need to understand most immigrants are more educated, skilled, efficient and able than the general work force in New Zealand. People speaking with an accent should not be considered 'no English'."

Ms McNaughton says some employers illegally ask recruiters to supply a shortlist which does not include any non-English names.

Only 20 per cent of the migrants detected discrimination from other workers.

"That's encouraging. It shows that once diverse people do get appointed their colleagues are less likely to be discriminatory," Ms McNaughton says.

She says smart organisations which want to be competitive in a knowledge economy will benefit from diversity.

"I have been in discussion with IT sector organisations recruiting globally and doing business internationally, who are aware they could do better if they understood issues of gender and cultural diversity.

"One organisation said 'We want creative knowledge workers - that is the strength of our business. So we need to understand what will bring people like that to New Zealand when we can't always compete on earnings'."