Although unemployment rates have remained at record lows, in the past 2 years industry staffing challenges have peaked. The constraints of operating with a deficit of workers are often cited by operators as one of their biggest ongoing challenges and are exacerbated at seasonal peaks.

Our hospitality businesses must be able to attract, recruit and retain overseas talent to help bolster our skills shortage in the short term, allowing the sector to successfully build and upskill our domestic workforce.

The one-size-fits-all approach to immigration settings taken to date has not met the unique needs of our sector. Hospitality needs a clear road map from the government pertaining to short, medium and long-term immigration plans that provide clarity for businesses, and that are responsive to sector-based nuances like ours.

Priority 1: Extending working holiday visa maximum work periods to at least six months

Currently, agreements with 20 countries restrict travelers with a working holiday visa to working for an individual employer for no longer than three months.

For any business, three months is just enough time to onboard and train a new staff member on the systems and procedures that are unique to a workplace. Where staff are then required to move on after three months, both the employee and employer find themselves in a constant cycle of training and recruitment.

Extending the maximum period to at least six months will help to ease recruitment and training costs and pressures on our businesses, while also providing security for those employees on a working holiday visa to know they aren’t required to constantly look for other work.

Priority 2: Addressing worker shortages

Worker shortages have long been, and long will continue to be, an issue for the sector.

A deficit of workers is often cited by operators as one of their biggest ongoing challenges and are exacerbated at seasonal peaks.

As the hospitality industry works to develop our domestically trained workforce, there remains a need to bring onshore overseas talent that is able to both fill immediate gaps and support that training and development.

This can be achieved through setting industry-specific median wage requirements instead of national median wage levels in visa requirements, work on a pathway to residency for highly skilled workers in hospitality and ensuring students who choose to study hospitality in New Zealand are eligible to work here after their studies.

Priority 3: Improving case management and streamlining of visa applications

Our visa processing system must be improved, with consistent challenges and bottlenecks identified since early 2020. 

This can be achieved through addressing structural inefficiencies within Immigration New Zealand, upskilling INZ staff with industry-specific knowledge and ensuring a more streamlined visa system. Achieving greater consistency in assessments will minimise regulatory and administrative burdens on business operators in the hospitality industry, contributing to a more efficient and transparent immigration process.

Latest Immigration Advocacy

Get involved

If you’d like to get involved in our advocacy work, one of the best things you can do is to reach out to your local Member of Parliament or councillor to help bolster our efforts.

We’ve created a template here that you can use to get in touch with your local politicians, which includes space for you to personalise and include your own story. Tailor it as you’d like, then address and email it to your local MP.

You can find out who your local MP is here, or get in touch with our team at info@restaurantnz.co.nz if you’d like some help!