A few weeks ago, we celebrated Mental Health Awareness week. In light of this, our director wrote a piece about mental wellbeing in the workplace and how there’s no “one size fits all” solution. Check it out here.
However, this month our focus is on international talent. With the border beginning to open to skilled migrants, this is becoming more and more crucial.
Immigration New Zealand has updated the criteria for essential workers (newly titled critical workers), which is good news for industries such as healthcare and food services. Selected critical healthcare workers are now able to stay in New Zealand for four years before a stand-down period. A stand-down period is where you must leave New Zealand for 12 months before applying for another visa.
While employers are preparing to accept overseas candidates, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re able to make the move. EY has put together a handy immigration tracker that indicates how each country is progressing as far as mobility goes. To prepare for what comes next, EY has recommended organisations prepare guidelines and policies for globally mobile workforces, as well as exit strategies for employees who may be stuck overseas.
Closer to home, the infrastructure and tech industries are beginning to think about international talent post-pandemic. You can read more about the global impacts below. The domestic infrastructure sector in particular took a hit, due to the small talent pool available here at home. However, job numbers are starting to increase. Now that there’s more certainty around the work ahead and the industry is more aware of skill gaps, organisations can start thinking more about how to fill them.
Despite efforts to train Kiwis in these skills, we know it’s going to take time. Because of this, we’ve been busy producing campaigns focused on attracting experienced New Zealand expats back home.
At HainesAttract, border closures meant our LookSee events and WorkHere programmes were temporarily put on hold as both initiatives were focused on bringing offshore talent to New Zealand. With the world beginning to open up again, we’re excited to announce both LookSee and WorkHere will be relaunching in 2021. We’re looking forward to once again connecting candidates to employers and showing off what New Zealand has to offer.
We hope you have a great day!
Ashleigh
