The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • 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

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.
Premium
Home / The Country

Out of workers: Exporters call for more Government action on labour shortages

Liam Dann
By Liam Dann
Business Editor at Large·NZ Herald·
22 Jun, 2021 05:45 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

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Export successis threatened by 'perfect storm' of shipping disruption and labour shortages, exporters say. Photo / Paul Taylor

Export successis threatened by 'perfect storm' of shipping disruption and labour shortages, exporters say. Photo / Paul Taylor

The NZ International Business Forum has joined the call for more Government focus on labour shortages, writing a letter to Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.

Exporters were facing a "perfect storm", said NZIBF chief executive Stephen Jacobi.

They were "on the one hand facing issues getting goods to market due to the disruption to shipping and the supply chain and on the other the shortage of workers due to the closed borders".

Jacobi said the letter was written to highlight concerns the NZIBF board had about proposed changes to immigration settings and ongoing border restrictions for critical workers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

NZIBF represents together some of the largest exporters including dairy, meat, horticulture, wine and fishing interests, along with other internationally focused
business organisations.

It was important to recognise that the economy had done so well through the pandemic because of the ability of exporters to trade, Jacobi said.

He was concerned that the current conditions were threatening that success story.

"It is highly likely that New Zealand will continue to experience severe labour shortages, particularly when unemployment is low and apprenticeships are increasing," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"These anticipated shortages are now at a level where we are deeply concerned they will
imperil export growth and hence the economic recovery".

Kiwifruit are prepared for loading at the Port of Tauranga before sailing to Japan. Photo / NZME
Kiwifruit are prepared for loading at the Port of Tauranga before sailing to Japan. Photo / NZME

Board members had been reporting significant problems in attracting a local workforce able to carry out essential tasks including harvesting and processing, he said.

Anecdotal evidence suggested that lugging the shortfall it wasn't as simple as just offering higher pay rates, he said.

Jacobi said he hoped the Government would continue to engage with exporters and stay flexible on policy as evidence of more serious problems emerged.

He said the industry also needed help to get key workers across borders and through MIQ as they looked to re-engage with customers in major markets.

The Government has indicted it will look to "reset" immigration policy post-Covid, encouraging local business to have less reliance on low skilled migrant workers.

In a response to a Herald question about the letter Minister Faafoi said acknowledged "there are sectors still facing skill and labour shortages".

To support these sectors, we have enabled critical workers to come into the country through border exceptions as MIQ and other COVID health controls allow," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Through these exceptions we have brought in more than 17,000 workers, their partners and dependent children to support New Zealand's economic activity while border restrictions are in place".

He noted the Government had announced a number of new border exceptions that would see thousands of skilled and critical workers arrive in New Zealand over the coming months to help provide a boost to key sectors.

"We've also made it easier for onshore migrants to stay and continue to work here while our border restrictions are in place - including around 10,000 Working Holiday and Supplementary Seasonal Employment visa holders who were granted a further six month extension to their visas last week".

The Government would continue to consider class border exception requests from sectors that are facing critical workforce gaps where these cannot be filled domestically and where sectors can demonstrate a plan for education, training, wages and other work conditions and initiatives that will attract New Zealanders, he said.

Individual employers could also apply to bring workers to New Zealand through the 'other critical worker' visa process if they meet the criteria.

The Productivity Commission has been tasked with a full policy review - the first since the 1990s - and is currently seeking submissions from the public.

A draft report with proposed recommendations will be released in October 2021.

A final report will be presented to the Government in April 2022.

The Productivity Commission is welcoming submissions until December 24, 2021.

To make a submission, click here.

OUT OF WORKERS: A Business Herald Series

MONDAY:
• The tech sector's new pain point

TUESDAY:
• Worse than Covid: Hospitality's battle for staff
• Kate MacNamara: Immigration and the puzzle of New Zealand's tight labour market

WEDNESDAY:
• 'Ridiculous' shortage of MIQ spaces for construction workers
• Covid-19 highlights labour shortage in seafood industry

THURSDAY:
• Horticulture has 'wall of work coming' and dwindling staff
• James Cameron laments worker shortage

FRIDAY:
• Tourism jobs go begging, receptionists making beds
• 'Devastating': Worker shortage causes crisis - employers plead for help

SATURDAY:
• Business Hub: Peter Wilson: The brains behind Government's big immigration reset
• Immigration reset: 'Go back to the drawing board'

SUNDAY:
• Liam Dann: The great worker shortage could solve itself - but no one wants that

MONDAY:
• Michael Barnett: Why valuing a job by an hourly rate is flawed

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from The Country

The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure
The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

Rifts among industry groups, charities and agencies in the beekeeping industry.

16 Jul 03:00 AM
The Country: Luxon on coalition friction
The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

16 Jul 01:42 AM
Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal
The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal

16 Jul 12:37 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
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