Compromises with little benefit at COP27

Recruiting and retaining the skills we need

The Government’s ‘Immigration Rebalance‘ fits within its political ideology, but is madness in the context of the current labour market, Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard says

When the borders closed in 2020, it was always going to be a long road back. And it was also inevitable the Government would take the opportunity to revamp the immigration system.

The situation we are in now is one where the government is looking to migration as a tool to increase wages and prevent ‘low skilled’ migrants from gaining residence, which fits with the government’s political ideaology but is just not practical.

When finances, projects and construction contracts are depending on labour availability, a ‘try it and see’ approach is never good enough. Several things seem to have been forgotten.

First, labour is subject to market forces of supply and demand. When everybody in the country that wants to be employed has a job, it is a simple fact we have to look elsewhere or the work we need to do will not get done.

Second, migration cuts both ways. With a tight global labour market, if it is easier to work overseas than it is in New Zealand, that is where people will go. There is a real imbalance when people can exit the country for opportunities abroad, without the ability for others to enter.

Third, the government doesn’t always get its settings right. In the recent Immigration Rebalance consultation, we submitted a list of more than 20 roles to be added to a critical exceptions list allowing recruitment. The list was based on roles advised to us by members through a consultation process. Only one was added – albeit an important one; ‘Drainage, Sewerage and Stormwater Labourer’.

So, while we are participating in the current consultation on the future of the Skilled Migrant visa category, calling for removal of barriers to entry, removal of caps to application processing and greater recognition of skilled civil tradespeople to enable them to enter the country alongside the engineering roles currently on the green list, we are also taking the issue up with Minister for Immigration Michael Wood (and his opposition counterparts) directly.

With these efforts, we hope to shift the mindset from creating bureaucracy and barriers to creating a streamlined system that enables us to recruit the skills we need from offshore, when they aren’t available within New Zealand.

Immigration policy changes welcomed by infrastructure sector

The addition of green list pathways for skilled civil construction trade workers alongside skilled civil engineers shows the world New Zealand is open for business once more, says Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard

The changes will see Green List pathways for residence for skilled civil construction machine operators, drainlayers, site supervisors and truck drivers – people who often had vital skills and practical knowledge that often went unrecognised.

These skills result in good transport, water, internet, energy and other infrastructure networks – all major contributors to a country’s standard of living and quality of life.

These are rewarding, well-paying jobs with great benefit for our communities. With these changes, skilled civil construction workers now have long term prospects and can build a life for themselves here. I’m really looking forward to seeing the results their contribution brings.

Skilled civil tradespeople are in hot demand globally and will be sorely needed to take the pressure off the country’s existing workers and site supervisors, who are often responsible for onboarding and training new workers and ensuring project quality.

The inability to recruit workers from overseas has hamstrung the civil construction industry at the very time they were most needed to construct and maintain the country’s essential infrastructure networks.

The country’s shortage of skilled civil construction workers has been welldocumented and has impacted projects requiring specialist capability and experience. The lack of skilled workers has been the industry’s number one challenge for several years.

While businesses had put a lot of energy into identifying talent and developing people within New Zealand, they had at the same time been severely restricted by closed borders, a small pool of prospective workers and few infrastructure construction training opportunities.

We recently met with the Minister of Immigration and his officials to explain the need for skilled civil tradespeople, who play a vital role in constructing our transport and water networks, alongside our other essential infrastructure like ports and public spaces.

I’m pleased to see this need for civil tradespeople and site supervisors acknowledged by the minister, and opportunities created for these skilled workers to enter the country and contribute their skills and experience toward constructing our essential infrastructure.

While there are still significant improvements that could be made, the next step needs to be a co-ordinated international campaign to recruit top international talent, leveraging New Zealand’s global status and international networks.

See the full list of changes here