Francesca Rudkin: I’m a lover of the OE, but we need to encourage workers to come here

At the beginning of March, BusinessNZ released a report which stated that without policy changes our tightest ever labour market will get tighter. The Sense Partners’ The Future of Workplace Supply report was commissioned by BusinessNZ, who also did a survey in September last year which revealed labour shortages were the biggest concern for New Zealand businesses. The Future of Workplace Supply report reveals New Zealand’s need for workers will outstrip supply by a quarter of a million people by 2048. Various measures are suggested to solve this problem, the most obvious solution in the short and long term is immigration. It became glaringly apparent during the pandemic just how heavily we rely on sourcing skills and labour from the international market. Always have. Always will. According to BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope “We are in a global war for talent and New Zealand’s labour shortage is the most intense in the OECD.” He says this report “proves there is no slack in our labour market”. So it was with delight and concern this week I read about the changes to the Youth Mobility Visa with the UK coming into force earlier than expected. The scheme currently allows New Zealanders aged 18 to 30 to work in the UK for a year and live  there for two - with pretty much the same arrangement for UK citizens coming here. It's now been extended to include New Zealand ‘youth’ up to 35, and with living and work rights extending to three years for both countries. This was supposed to be in place by the end of 2024 –it is nowkicking off in June/July this year. I’m a lover of the OE. Being a borderless island tucked away at the bottom of the world is beneficial during a global pandemic, but the draw is strong for our young, and as it turns out now, not so young, to broaden their experiences personally and professionally on the other side of the world. The OE can be a life changing experience, an adventure, an opportunity to work out what you want from life. Many return to New Zealand with attitudes and skills that benefit locally based businesses. So, it’s a good thing. But I wonder, in this climate, what impact this news will have on employers? With a tight labour market, is it more frustrating than normal to have young workers who you may have trained up leave, and leave you with the challenge of finding someone to replace them and starting again? The changes will be well received by those who haven’t been able to get away for their OE, or those frustrated with the cost of living and housing in New Zealand. The OE has always been tolerated in New Zealand as many return, enticed home by family, our Kiwi laid-back attitude, the outdoors and ease of living. Aside from the family connections and outdoors, I’m not sure the allure of an affordable, laid-back life back here in NZ is a draw card anymore. And this works both ways right? UK citizens currently on the similar visa here in New Zealand can too extend their visa from July 1st. So not only do we need to encourage Kiwis to return, but we have to encourage UK workers to come here and work in our hospitals, horticulture, hospo and tourism. We need to compete with countries like Australia (who made similar changes to their equivalent youth mobility visa years ago) to bring both Kiwis and UK citizens to New Zealand. Now that’s going to be a hard marketing campaign for this Government to pull off, but with the current labour shortages, an aging population and stiff international competition they need to make policy changes. They need to be competitive, they need to make the process more seamless, they need more incentives, and they need to start now. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.