The government has announced an expansion of the immigration Green List, fast-tracking residency for a range of industry professionals in an attempt to ease the pressure on industry shortages.

The changes were announced at the
final post-Cabinet press briefing for this year on Monday, with 85 professions now included in the initiative.

From Thursday, registered nurses, specialist doctors and midwives will have an immediate pathway to residence, and from March next year other industry professionals such as teachers offered a work-to-residence pathway.

Bus and truck drivers will receive a temporary residence pathway, in hopes of relieving a national lack of drivers.

According to Immigration Minister Michael Wood, since the beginning of the pandemic 3,474 nurses have arrived in Aotearoa, but creating further attraction for nurses to move here has been a priority.

The healthcare sector will receive a much-needed extra hand with straight-to-residence pathways open for nurses, specialist doctors and midwives.

“Adding these roles will further build on the attractiveness of New Zealand to those looking to set themselves and their families up long term,” Wood said.

With staff shortages across the country impacting a range of industries, some are set to benefit from the Green List changes, with others feeling left behind.

With the summer season approaching and the industry already hard-hit, Hospitality New Zealand is questioning why chefs haven’t been included in the initiative.

Hospitality New Zealand president and owner of destination restaurant Schnappa Rock Nick Keene, said disappointment has been felt due to “chronic” staff shortages across the country.

“When you look around and see operators reducing their days and hours of operation you know they’re having a staff shortage.

“There’s a real danger if we can’t offer the service standards that people really expect, and rightly so, then it damages the destination.”

He said often the choice is between staff suffering from burnout, or reduced hours, which is a “difficult thing to negotiate”.

While Keene said taking care of staff and ensuring they have enough time off is a priority, he believes the Green List should have included chefs, offering policy settings that are attractive to those who may uproot their lives to relocate to New Zealand.

He pointed out that Australia offers automatic residency for chefs.

Te Tai Tokerau’s Principals’ Association president Pat Newman told the Advocate he is happy about the opportunity for teachers to be offered a work to residence pathway, but also has some concerns.

“There is no doubt that we’re needing to have specialist teachers in the country, and there’s no doubt there’s a shortage of teachers, but I also don’t believe in just putting people in front of a class because they have a teaching qualification.”

Newman is encouraging employers to take the very best applicants, and he also believes there needs to be a deeper look into why there is a shortage in the first place.

“I have never in my 44 years as a principal seen the teaching profession so knackered, run-down, and tired.”

He said the government is “in cloud cuckoo land” if they think bringing teachers from overseas will fix the problem.

Newman also isn’t expecting to see a big change in Te Tai Tokerau – he said the rural areas that are crying out for staff will be unlikely places for qualified individuals to relocate.

Managing director of OnRoad Transport, Don Wilson, thinks the inclusion of temporary residence for truck drivers is worth it, but he would have liked to see truck drivers under the same priority as healthcare workers.

“We’re desperately short of between 8000 and 9000 truck drivers in the country,” he explained, “and getting them as soon as we possibly can is going to make it a lot easier for us to get staff”.

“We need them now, and we need them long term,” he said.

“Every transport operator has trucks parked in their yard because they can’t find the staff, and that has a flow-on effect on the supply chain.”

As for the current changes, Wilson said they “should have happened sooner”.

“Our country is built around exporting product,” he said.

“If we can’t deliver it to the ports for export it’s going to impact New Zealand.”

The Green List is reviewed regularly, and according to Michael Wood, will be reviewed again mid-2023.