New Zealand has world-class approaches to temporary immigration, such as the Recognised Seasonal Employer programme, but they could still do with some improvements, according to a report by NZIER.
New Zealand relies more heavily on visitors with work rights than other OECD countries, per head of population. At its peak, in 2017, there were almost 250,000 people in the country who could work here either on student visas and as holidaymakers, or in the much smaller group of RSE seasonal horticulture and viticulture workers.
There is a lot of research into the impacts of permanent migrants, but very little on the effects of temporary migrants, said NZIER associate Julie Fry, co-author of the report with NZIER principal economist Peter Wilson.
The tight control of New Zealand’s borders since the Covid-19 pandemic hit last March provided a good opportunity to look at the country without its usual supply of temporary overseas workers, and make adjustments, she said.
“Our RSE programme is world-leading, our global impact visa is world-leading, even our permanent stuff is world-leading, but there’s still stuff we could do better.”
An initial report on migration by NZIER last year for the Productivity Commission as part of its research into New Zealand’s frontier firms concluded that the country’s high level of immigration has not resulted in improved productivity or a significant boost to gross domestic product (GDP).
An initial report on migration by NZIER last year for the Productivity Commission as part of its research into New Zealand’s frontier firms concluded that the country’s high level of immigration has not resulted in improved productivity or a significant boost to gross domestic product (GDP).
The commission asked NZIER to follow up with research into the impacts of temporary migrant workers, and the effects of low-cost and low-skill temporary migrant labour on the economy, which was released on Tuesday alongside the commission’s final report into frontier firms.
NZIER welcomed the Productivity Commission’s recommendation that the Government review migration policy.
Temporary immigration could benefit both migrants and their host communities, provided policy was suitable for local conditions and under ongoing review.
“Our read of the evidence is that migration is a good thing, but you don’t just open the door and hope people rock on up and expect it to go as best as it can,” said Fry.
“You need to monitor it … little things become big things if you don’t address them while they’re little things.”
The lack of international evidence about temporary migrant workers had made it potentially awkward for the Government to review if it was not confident about a positive result for something that was so key to the economy, she said.
The trick appeared to be attract people who would complement local skills and capital. What those people might look like was going to change over time.
Issues had arisen around student visas, which had led to exploitation of migrants told it was a pathway to residency. There were also concerns around the reliance of some sectors on holidaymakers to fill roles.
In terms of the RSE scheme, concerns included whether people were making enough money, impacts in their communities back home, and the ability of RSE workers to complain about problems.
“[RSE] employers love it, workers love it for the most part, even though there are some issues - let’s just make sure we address the things people have concerns about instead of letting them fester,” she said.
The number of RSE workers has grown from just about 5000 initially in 2007 to 11,400 in 2019. Most workers came from Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Kiribati.
Due to Covid-19 border restrictions, New Zealand’s $10 billion horticulture industry was left short of thousands of seasonal workers and businesses say Kiwis have been reluctant to fill the roles.
“What has been really interesting to me was … that employers and other commentators were immediately, oh this is going to be a disaster, the fruit will not be picked, it will rot on the trees.
“We finished our draft of this in mid-February and at that time the fruit was actually getting picked, and then you start seeing these 8c [per kilo] tomatoes, and this is not what everyone’s telling you was going to happen.
“I’ve been surprised by the extent to which businesses were rational and just said look, we’ll improve conditions, we’ll put wages up, particularly when there were students. It was great to see the market reacting as you would predict.”
However, there were concerns about the apple and pear harvest, particularly with tertiary students unavailable.
New Zealanders had picked up some of the roles filled by unavailable temporary migrant workers, but it was hard to compare with previous years.
“Maybe Kiwis are prepared to do these jobs because of Covid uncertainty, and they wouldn’t have been prepared at another time,” she said.
“There’s a long-term trend in there just being better options for people outside the agricultural sector, so it’s not that your locals are bad, it’s that they have better choices, and one of the reasons why RSE workers are prepared to do the jobs that locals aren’t is because they have fewer choices back home, their choices in New Zealand are very narrow.”