KEY POINTS:
More than 11,000 foreigners in New Zealand have been individually urged to immediately take up seasonal work in Central Otago, as desperate cherry growers in the district teeter on the brink of losing their crucial export harvests because of a labour shortage.
From Boxing Day, every visitor thought to be in New Zealand with a Holiday Working Scheme permit was sent text messages and emails urging them to head to Central Otago, in a last-ditch effort by Horticulture New Zealand and the Department of Labour to boost workers in the district.
Central Otago has been recognised as having an absolute labour shortage by Work and Income New Zealand for the past three years.
Seasonal Solutions managing director and Summerfruit New Zealand Chairman Basil Goodman said there are 5500 vacancies in the horticulture and viticulture industries in Central Otago, most of which needed to be filled by today.
"Come the weekend, we will be into the picking big time, which gives people one more day to register," he said.
Mr Goodman, based in Alexandra, said the initiative would bring in a few extra workers for orchardists but not nearly enough to ease the shortage in the district.
"There's no evidence in terms of foot traffic in our office today [Thursday] which would suggest anything else but the shortage in Central Otago continuing. We don't anticipate any real upsurge."
Horticulture New Zealand national seasonal labour co-ordinator Jeff van Beek said Central Otago was in the most critical state of the country's three fruit-growing districts.
Mr van Beek said Hawke's Bay and Nelson would need more than 17,500 workers later in the summer for apple harvests, which would peak in the middle of February.
"We have to do everything we can to get the fruit off the trees and we are urging anyone looking for work to contact the regional co-ordinators [of the initiative]," he said.
Foreigners under the age of 30, from countries which had work arrangements with New Zealand and who were currently in the country, could apply to work for up to three months if they entered New Zealand with a Working Holiday Visa.
Under new Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme transitional arrangements, they could also apply for a three-month work permit extension if they had been working for three months in the viticulture and horticulture industries already.
The transitional arrangements also allowed visitors already working in the industries in New Zealand to apply for a four-month work permit, and so far 405 such permits had been approved.
Backpackers on holiday with a visitor's visa could also now apply for a variation of their visa to work for one employer in the district for up to six weeks.
They needed an employment agreement within the Central Otago horticulture or viticulture industries to do so.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
