New Zealand’s dairy farmers have been lobbying to have occupations in the dairy industry added to the Immediate Skills Shortage List (ISSL).

According to a press conference from Federated Farmers, dairy farms across New Zealand are in severe need of  skilled workers to fill the current void left by an aging workforce and an increase in employees leaving the industry. Federates Farmers Employment spokesperson, Frank Brenmuhl, said that the industry will require roughly 4,000 people to begin working in the dairy farming sector in order to plug the gap.

Currently, some 1,300 skilled workers from abroad live and work in New Zealand, plying their trade in the dairy farming industry, however, Brenmuhl has made it clear that this is not enough.

“Despite it paying extremely well, we don’t have young New Zealanders entering the dairy sector. If the Assistant Herd Manager and Assistant Farm Manager categories were cancelled, it would have compromised exports,” he said, continuing, “As we cannot recruit enough talent locally, we need skilled migrant workers.”
Presently, the New Zealand government insists that employers must prove that all efforts to secure local skilled workers have been exhausted before being given the right to source skills from abroad.