With constant talks in the media about the “economy” and how to help New Zealand excel in the global marketplace is New Zealand really doing its best to bring in key talent to grow our businesses?
While I support strict immigration laws that limit the ability for those seeking handouts from foreign governments and I also recognize that there is immigration reform to protect refugees, asylum seekers, and family members, where are the immigration categories and reforms that protect and encourage experienced executives to come to New Zealand? Yes, I’m aware that there is an “investors” category if you have $10million dollars to invest in a New Zealand company, but what about the qualified overseas Chief Executive, Lawyer, or consultants that are not millionaires but could still bring heaps of knowledge and talent to our economy supposed to do? Yes there is also a “skilled migrant category” which invites panel beaters, bee keepers and chefs to enter into NZ, but again, what about Managing Directors and Commercial Managers? The third option is to have a company sponsor a visa on your behalf if you gain successful employment with them. However, first this means you must have a job before you can move here and secondly it is a onerous process for employers as well, so do they always want to look offshore?
A recent NZ Herald article discussing the “skills shortage” in New Zealand interviewed a successful IT firm that stated “its biggest headache was Immigration NZ” in finding new talent especially at the mid-management level. One owner of a business stated “the biggest handbrake on its plans for growth is a lack of skilled staff. . . and the issues with dealing with immigration. ” So even the company-sponsored visas are not always the solution.
As a global search firm we are in contact with executives all around the world and we are often asked what the immigration requirements are to enter the country. Many qualified candidates that we talk with are not able to get a visa until they get a job and they can’t get a job until they get a visa. I personally fell into that category, as an American, even though I am married to a Kiwi and we have a daughter I can still only qualify for a two year work visa (not permanent residency). Unfortunately my PhD and experience as an attorney in another country did not qualify on the skilled migrant list, nor do I have a spare $10million to invest and since I’ve already began the process of getting a partner visa I can no longer change to get a company sponsored visa.
I am not alone, our firm recently interviewed a very skilled South African senior manager with experience in global sales and IT management who was unable to get a visa and he is now the CEO of a medium size enterprise in the UK. He recently told us he had to “Look outside of NZ for opportunities due to immigration challenges in NZ.” This professional suggested that there could be a new immigration category allowing qualified immigrants like himself to come into the country without access to the country’s benefits (health care and unemployment benefits) until they are able to secure work or other types of visas? What suggestions do you have?
I am reminded of the ethical question we were all asked in our criminal law class in Law School “Is is better to let 10 guilty men roam free rather than convict one innocent man?” What do you think? Should the New Zealand immigration policies be relaxed to allow for more talent to move here, or is it a bigger risk to have individuals come and take advantage of the wealth of resources offered to residents?...even if some of them could help support and grow the New Zealand economy?
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Carrie Clarke
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