News and Publications

New sector agreements to ease labour shortages in specific industries:

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has announced exceptions to median wage requirements for various industries, from October 2022, in a bid to ease labour shortages.

The sector agreements are in exchange for “ongoing improvements”, to allow industries which have traditionally relied on lower-paid migrants to improve attraction and retention of domestic workers and put significant effort into retaining, training and upskilling New Zealanders.

The details for each industry differ, but may include a capped number of migrant workers, occupations included, a wage threshold, maximum visa durations and standdowns. If you have clients who may be affected by these changes, our team can help – please feel free to introduce us for an initial discussion about how recent immigration changes impact them.

The industries affected are:

1. Care Workforce
2. Construction and Infrastructur
3. Meat Processing
4. Seafood (onshore)
5. Seafood (sea-based)
6. Seasonal Snow and Adventure Tourism

Working holiday visas

INZ announced three changes regarding the working holiday visas on the same day. It will extend the duration of working holiday visas, allow additional time to travel to New Zealand and double the scheme caps will doubled.

New skilled residence pathways

INZ released three new residence pathways on 27 July 2022. It applies to people who have an occupation in the Green List or are paid at least twice the median wage, in the following categories:

Message for Employers

For help with what residence pathways are available to your employees, or other practical immigration advice to suit your needs, contact our team.

Disclaimer: We remind you that while this article provides commentary on employment law, health and safety and immigration topics, it should not be used as a substitute for legal or professional advice for specific situations. Please seek legal advice from your lawyer for any questions specific to your workplace.