Immigrant row spreads to IT

By RICHARD WOOD

IT export industries are being stunted because university places are loaded with short-term New Zealand residents, says a leading exporter.

Peter Maire, president of technology manufacturer Navman, finds it frustrating that few of those who complete an electrical engineering degree in New Zealand actually stay.

He estimates that no more than 15 out of over 100 who go through the University of Auckland each year remain in the country. "We've basically sold the positions offshore."

Maire says Navman has employed 50 engineers in the past four years and could find only three graduates locally.

The problem is permanent residency.

"You've got an immigration policy that allows people to park their children here for the duration of their education. A large percentage of the ones parked here are residents, but they don't stay after their degree is completed."

An Auckland University employee who spoke anonymously to the Herald estimated that 80 to 90 per cent of electrical engineering students would be either international students or permanent residents and "a good many would seem to disappear".

But Professor Allan Williamson, of the University of Auckland School of Engineering, said Maire's difficulties finding staff were just as easily explained by rising demand, and graduates getting jobs before Navman and others got to them.

He could not say how many students stayed after graduation, but said some newer permanent resident students had extended families in a number of countries.

"Whether they see themselves as citizens of New Zealand or citizens of the world, who knows?"

From an educational point of view, a permanent resident must be treated the same as a citizen, he said.

Williamson noted that the percentage of students with Asian ethnicity had increased, with some born here and some recent immigrants.

People from the Asian community tended to gravitate towards commercial subjects such as engineering, commerce, and medicine, he added.

Maire wants New Zealand to bring in experience using "targeted immigration" rather than just looking at paper qualifications.

And he said migrants must be drawn largely from countries that New Zealand could successfully export to. That would give New Zealand firms more detailed knowledge of export markets as a bonus.

As a result of the telecommunications industry collapse, there were a lot of highly skilled, commercially savvy engineers available from Scandinavian countries.

"And they look on New Zealand as an attractive destination. The lifestyle and culture they find very acceptable."

Maire said a lack of knowledge of export markets contributed to New Zealand's weakness in marketing, which is identified as a major issue in the report of the Government's information and communications technology (ICT) taskforce released last week.

Maire is a member of the taskforce, which is advising on how to boost New Zealand's ICT industries.

He said the taskforce calculated that New Zealand needed 12,500 ICT graduates and experienced supervisors and managers by 2012, and they were not going to be available locally.

"If New Zealand is going to build an ICT industry, it definitely needs to bring in the right kind of people."

The report said software skills would soon be in short supply, and electronics, radio frequency and production engineering skill shortages existed already.

Herald feature: Immigration