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The recent opening of New Zealand’s borders to overseas workers has been welcomed by Warkworth employers who are struggling to fill vacancies.
They hope an influx of overseas workers might relieve some of the pressure, as well as recalibrate wages.
The market for qualified staff has become so competitive that in fields such as mechanics, some Auckland employers are offering bonuses of up to $3000 to secure workers.
“We just can’t compete with that,” Cameron Auto Services owner Susan Belich says. “The offers are normally $1500 up front and then $1500 after three months, and it’s been going on for about three months now.”
Belich has considered hiring from overseas, but has been hesitant because of the amount of paper work involved.
“It’s quite a process. Luckily, we found someone recently who was semi-local, which spared us that additional work, but we still have vacancies. Warrant of Fitness inspectors are particularly difficult to find.”
Belich says in her sector, pay is a big factor in recruitment at the moment.
“It’s not unusual for mechanics in Auckland to be getting $40 an hour. At the recommended industry charge out rate, which is normally three times the hourly rate, we’d be charging labour at $120 an hour. It would make us uncompetitive here.
“We’re responsible for seven household incomes so we have to remain profitable.”
Belich says an additional issue in Mahurangi is the lack of rental housing.
“If you do find someone from outside the area, where are they going to live?
“It’s taken one of our mechanics 18 months to find a house to rent. In the interim, he’s been using someone’s sleepout during the week and only seeing his young family on weekends.”
NZ Dive Centre manager Jacqui Smith says they have struggled from the day borders closed.
“We’re short of dive instructors and dive masters, and it has had a massive impact on our charter and course schedules. In some cases, we’ve had to cancel altogether.
“We’ve advertised in industry journals, on the internet, on social media, talked to Work and Income, and approached some of our customers, but it’s been pretty desperate.
“The tourism sector has been so damaged by Covid and the lockdowns that a lot of people who might have been candidates have gone to other sectors where they believe there is more job security and diversity in work.”
Lack of staff has also meant those who are employed are working longer hours.
Central Landscapes Julian Barnard says he has been struggling for months to find truck drivers.
“It’s not pay because we’ve checked around to make sure that what we’re offering is competitive,” he says. “The fact that we haven’t got staff has meant the three of us have been going like idiots for 18 months now, often seven days a week.”
Rachael Hill, at Citywide Kitchens, says the company has three vacancies that they are struggling to fill.
“We’ve had no choice but to turn down new business because we’re getting sick of working weekends,” she says. “We’ve had candidates booked for interviews who just never showed up. We’re looking forward to the borders opening because we know there are a lot of skilled people ready to immigrate.”
A major employer in Mahurangi, who asked not to be named, says staff recruitment is probably the number one issue facing most businesses at the moment.
The company exports 70 per cent of what it produces and employs 35 “highly skilled” staff.
“We’ve had to reduce our capacity by 20 per cent as we simply can’t find staff,” a spokesperson said.
“This has meant reducing sales ambitions until suitable labour becomes available again.
“We’ve found filling production/factory vacancies to be the most difficult.
“NZ relies on overseas labour, but this option has been blocked since borders closed, but this should ease towards the end of this year.”
