Immigration is not the cure for NZ job woes. New Zealanders are.
Development of NZ's labour force is crucial
I should preface this missive by pointing out I’m a bit of a lefty. Yes, further left than the Labour government certainly. Further left even than the Greens, perhaps.
Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders remain all-time heroes for me and for a time, Karl Marx was my social media profile photo. Yes, that far left.
The right to left scale of political insight is massive. At one end and when we talk of the far right, we think of Nazism, skinheads and those loonies who stormed the US Capitol on January 6th. On the other end when we refer to the far-left, we should think Castro, Meduro, Ho Chi-Min or Marx.
Our leaders in New Zealand today would likely describe themselves as ‘centrists’. Meaning in most cases they sit astride the centre line between right wing and leftist views. The current government would I’d imagine stake a claim to the left of centre. While our Mr Luxon would likely position his team to the right.
Opened the flood gates
Okay so preface done, I should turn to the point. In broad terms and in my view, between 2008 and 2017 John Key’s right of centre National government opened the flood gates on NZ immigration. Particularly for low-skilled and low paid workers.
Our hospitality, ag sector and many other business sectors became drunk on a flood of overseas workers who viewed their temporary low-paid roles as an adventure, or an avenue for New Zealand residency. For them, it didn’t matter if their job had few protections or was paid minimum wage. For them it was a temporary arrangement.
Café owners, vineyards, bars, kiwifruit companies all loved it. Cheap labour that didn’t even want commitment. Happy days, right?
But wait, for New Zealanders, who needed the security of permanent employment. Who needed a wage that would feed their families as the cost of living in NZ grew higher and higher, the importation of low skilled cheap labour was a disaster.
‘We can’t get New Zealanders to apply, they’re lazy’ would be the catch cry of the right wing, while conveniently choosing to ignore the factors at play for those at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.
Devasting NZ's poorest
In my view, the impact of the 2008 – 2017 National government’s policies, including low-waged, low-skilled immigration was and continues to be devastating on New Zealand’s poorest communities.
• Total household spending on housing and household utilities in NZ between 2008 and 2017 increased by 62%. (Source Figure NZ)
• In the same timeframe median salaries increased by only 32%. (Source StatsNZ)
• The combination meant in real terms median NZ salaries decreased between 2008 and 2017.
• In June 2018, 30% or 341,000 New Zealand children lived in poverty. (Source StatsNZ – release of child poverty statistics Feb 21)
• In December 2019, Scoop cited an Ipsos New Zealand report stating, “More than 62% of New Zealanders believe they cannot afford to buy a home in their local property market.”
• An NZ Herald article in July 2021 stated “Forty per cent of Kiwi children now move regularly and those in rentals are at potentially greater risk as they bounce between different homes and schools far more often…”
Not the fault of our current government
Recently, I read a professionally written opinion piece from a good friend and fellow loudmouth, Matt Cowley of Tauranga’s Chamber of Commerce.
Under the headline “Bull-doze the immigration bottleneck”, Matt provides some excellent commentary on what, in his view, is required to aid the current need for staff in varying industry sectors.
Unfortunately, in placing responsibility for delivery of a workforce entirely at the door of government, Matt ignores two core points.
1. The current lack of a workforce is not the fault of our current government. You see commerce...
a. happily accepted and profited from previous loose immigration policies.
b. all but ceased training New Zealanders preferring the easy option of importation.
c. adopted employment practices inconducive to a healthy society.
2. The role of business in a democratic society is to serve the people. Not the other way around. In my view, business is supposed to be at the heart of community, not taking advantage of it.
Solutions?
So, what’s the solution? In my view, it’s short, middle, and long term.
1. Immigration – Yes, there will be skilled roles which we struggle to fill in New Zealand and in those highly skilled environments, legislation from central government allowing such is perfectly sensible.
2. Training – Businesses should actively build local relationships with tertiary education providers, with schools, with minority communities, creating pathways to their industry.
3. Diversity and Inclusion – Businesses should be thinking about how attractive they are as an employer. Do they value diversity? How are inclusive policies modelled in the environment and do team members benefit from an equitous space.
My ten cents? Let’s work together, let’s understand how we can work collaboratively to achieve that we need as a society.
Yes, we can, and we should create a world where people are valued over business. Because in doing so, business might just attract people.
Slaintë & ka kite.
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