The immigration minister and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently made changes to New Zealand’s immigration settings, which brought respite to many, primarily in the health sector and other sectors such as construction and transport.
However, one sector that was hoping for good news was hospitality, which has long demanded to have chefs and other much-needed hospitality roles included in the Green List. However, their exclusion has disappointed the sector.
The Green List contains a small number of highly skilled roles identified as being in high demand globally and in ongoing shortage in NZ. Eligible migrants working in these occupations will have clear pathways to residence, either through a direct-to-residence application or after working for two years in NZ, depending on the role.
Talking to Indian Weekender, Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Restaurant Association of NZ, said, "This is another blow for our industry which is in the grips of a staffing crisis. We have been asking for chefs to be included in the green list to ensure that any chefs who do come here have a pathway to residency.”
Julie White, Chief Executive of Hospitality NZ, agreed with Bidois and said, “Once again, hospitality businesses have been ignored. We are beyond frustrated by the latest immigration announcement that chefs have been left off the immigration Green List. We asked the government to include chefs on the list as a bare minimum, but they ignored us, but when it came to nurses, they said they listened and have now taken action. They must understand that the global shortage of skilled staff means we need more competitive and attractive immigration settings.”
It may be noted that while chefs are allowed to work in NZ, they have to uproot their life to settle in a country where there is no certainty of residency, versus Australia, where there is automatic residency, which puts NZ on a back foot when it comes to attracting staff.
“All we asked for is competitive policy settings that at least give us a chance of attracting people. We are one of the industries hardest hit by staff shortages. Hospitality and accommodation businesses are telling us they will have to continue cutting restaurant hours and days and refuse accommodation bookings over the summer because they won't have enough staff,” said White.
Government’s Rationale
The government, on the other hand, has no plans to include chefs on the Green List. A spokesperson for the Minister of Immigration told Indian Weekender, “The whole world is experiencing labour shortages right now. Since our borders reopened, the Government has taken several steps to support businesses to recruit internationally to fill these shortages. We've worked closely with the tourism and hospitality industry, supporting them by providing median wage exemptions for specific roles. Since our borders reopened, we have received visas for over 1476 cooks, 612 chefs, 165 restaurant managers, and 281 other hospitality workers.”
The spokesperson further maintained that there is a steady return of other key labour sources, with close to 22,000 working holiday visitors arriving in the country out of the 40,000 approved since March and thousands more are expected to arrive in the coming months.
The spokesperson said, "To help these sectors retain the staff, we have extended the visas of working holiday makers already in NZ with visas expiring between 26 August 2022 and 31 May 2023 by six months. We have also provided an additional opportunity for those who previously held a working holiday visa but didn't travel due to Covid-19 to come to NZ for the summer. At this time, No plans to include chefs in the Green List."
Experts’ take
Indian Weekender also spoke to immigration advisors about their take on the issue.
.png)
Jasmine Bath, Director of Flat Bush-based immigration consultancy Immigration Guru, says, "I believe the government has not included chefs in the Green List as it has statistics which show that working holiday visa holders fill hospitality jobs including the role of chef.
“Moreover, Chefs can apply for Accredited Employer work visas for three years at a time. They can qualify for residence under the points system, which will open in 2023 with new criteria.”
According to Bath, in the financial year June 2021 to July 2022 - INZ approved 4,792 chefs’ work visas.
Former immigration minister and director of TDA Immigration Tuariki Delamere believes prioritising nurses and doctors was more important than any other occupation.
He says, “I thought the government was monumentally wrong not to have doctors and nurses on the Green List because those are the people we need to care for the nation's health. But, while we have a shortage of chefs, I believe that doctors and nurses have a much higher priority and urgency than chefs.”
Delamere also notes that one of the problems in the hospitality sector is the corruption within the restaurant sector, where employers routinely exploit employees (including chefs), and many restaurant employers are still selling their jobs to willing migrant applicants, among others.
ISSUE
