This is 'welcome news for employers,' says the immigration minister
New Zealand has begun welcoming back working holidaymakers and more skilled workers that are expected to accelerate the country's economic recover from COVID-19.
These workers are expected to fill in the gaps of the country's crippled workforce and support tourism, a hard-hit sector by the pandemic across the world, according to a government announcement.
"Getting more working holidaymakers and skilled migrants into the country in the coming weeks and months is a priority for the Government in order to accelerate our recovery, which is why we have reopened this category early in our reconnection plan," said Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi in a statement.
According to Faafoi, the country is granting a new 12-month visa to about 19,500 people overseas who were unable to use their Working Holiday Visa because of border restrictions.
"The primary purpose for a Working Holiday Scheme is to travel. So, the return of working holidaymakers also provides a much-needed boost for our tourism sector ahead of the reopening of our borders more generally to tourists," the minister added.
New Zealand had around 50,000 working holidaymakers travelling to the country each year before the pandemic emerged. These workers tend to travel across New Zealand when they are in the country, which is why the government is also expecting them to boost the recovery of the COVID-hit tourism sector.
The country's uncapped Working Holiday Scheme reopened on Monday for Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. More countries are expected to join them in the coming weeks as part of the government's staged reopening plan for working holidaymakers.
"Working holidaymakers returning to New Zealand will be welcome news for employers, especially those in hospitality and the primary sectors, who are facing worker shortages right now," said Faafoi.
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'Far from a silver bullet'
Hospitality NZ welcomed the reopening of New Zealand's borders to working holidaymakers, but it said it is "far from a silver bullet" for the sector.
Chief executive Julie White questioned how the scheme is expected to become a "permanent fix," lamenting that the visas are just for three to six months, and the workers are limited to work in one place.
"They will have to be trained but within six months they'll be gone, and we'll have to start over and train new ones," White said in a statement.
She also expressed concern over the number of working holidaymakers who would still be willing to travel to New Zealand after it lagged behind the rest of the world in terms of reopening and potential travellers have already gone to other countries.
"The hospitality sector has traditionally been one of the biggest employers of migrant labour, yet the government turned that tap off and told us to employ more Kiwis," White said. "Well, that's what we want to do too, but it's really hard to find staff in this current high employment environment."
"The sector is suffering from a shortage of labour, but this announcement does nothing to address that," she added. "We need to be offering more skilled visas so hospitality businesses can get the staff they desperately need."
