Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has recently conducted a worldwide employment survey and concluded the New Zealand’s economy could be hit hard by the country’s crippling workforce numbers.

Grant Thornton spokesman Peter Sherwin commented: “The disturbing factor is that it continues to climb as a worry for New Zealand firms. In the latest survey, 61 per cent of the New Zealand businesses surveyed said it was a major concern - last year the figure was 60 per cent and the year before that it was 38 per cent.”

However, New Zealand was not the only country facing potential economic problems as a result of its labour crisis. 58 per cent of Australian businesses are said to have expressed concern over the country lack of skilled workers, compared to a global average of 37 per cent.

Read more about

New Zealand workforce crisis could have heavy impact on country’s economy

New Zealand’s famous wine-growing industry has claimed that the Marlborough region requires a further 1,500 grape pruners, and is looking to New Zealand immigration to attract them.

Grape growers have called on the government to allow skilled workers in the industry to remain in the country for the duration of the grape season in order to attract as many temporary migrants as possible. New Zealand Winegrowers are blaming the current shortage of pruners on the new Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

Read more about

NZ wine growers look to immigration for grape pruning

An increase in the number of women entering the New Zealand workforce has resulted in the country’s rate of unemployment falling 0.1 per cent to 3.4 per cent nationwide, a record that shows the lowest figures of unemployment in the country since the survey began in 1986.

Statistics New Zealand had also reported the highest recorded number of employees in the country’s workforce as well as the greatest ever workforce participation rates the nation has ever seen. This has been partially attributed to the rise of new migrants with New Zealand skilled visas.

Over the quarter of December 2007, Employment increased by 23,000 (1.1 percent) to reach 2,173,000. this was attributed to a growth in female employment, meaning that overall, full-time employment grew by 26,000 (1.6 percent), and part-time employment dropped by 1,000 (0.2 percent).

New Zealand’s unemployment rate is fifth lowest in the OECD, and compares with 5.5 percent for the whole of the OECD.

UnitedFront leader Peter Dunne has claimed that New Zealand is a “giant transit lounge”, used by migrants who gain citizenship in order to move on to Australia.

Mr. Dunne then proceeded to issue figures which showed that 30 per cent of New Zealanders who undertook Australian migration since 2001 were born overseas.

According to Statistics New Zealand, 28,600 more people left the country for Australia on a long-term or permanent basis than did so the other way in the year to January 2008. In January alone, 5000 New Zealanders made the move across the Tasman, with only 800 heading in the opposite direction.

Read more about

Dunne brands New Zealand “giant transit lounge”

New Zealand’s capital city, Auckland, is suffering from a major shortage of qualified primary school teachers, to the point where certain schools are having to employ staff who do not meet the criteria for English language competency.

The country is now turning its attention to recruiting qualified teachers from the UK in order to resolve what is rapidly developing into an education crisis.

Auckland Primary Principals Association president, Ken Pemberton has agreed that the UK is a potential hotbed for qualified primary school teachers who would have very little trouble obtaining New Zealand skilled visas.

He said: “We've known that there is going to be a shortage ... the government has known about if for a while as well.”

It has been revealed that in Auckland alone, some 300 new teachers will be needed as soon as possible of the problem is to be successfully addressed.

Statistics New Zealand had released figures revealing the top 10 contributors of migrants with New Zealand skilled visas to its shores.

During 2007, New Zealand’s net population grew by 5,500 despite a massive outflow of NZ-born residents to Australia; the largest since 1988.

The UK was once again the largest source of new migrants to the country, followed by India and the Philippines. It has provided the bulk of New Zealand’s migrant intake every year since 2004 when changes to language competency laws and restrictions on migrants from “non-equivalent” labour markets slashed the number of arrivals from China and India.

Read more about

Britain top source of New Zealand immigrants

A British centenarian has been granted the right to join his only living relative in New Zealand after immigration officials reversed their decision to have him sent back to Great Britain.

The 101-year-old widower had been living in New Zealand with his son, 63, since July 2006, however, his application for residency was turned down due to a technicality. The rules for residency required his son to have spent a minimum 184 days out of each of the last three years in the country, before his father’s New Zealand visa application process began, which he had failed to meet.

The man arrived in New Zealand on a visitors permit almost to years ago, however, it expired in April and he did not renew it as he believed that doing so was not necessary whilst his application for residency was being processed.

Despite the man’s age, adequate financial resources and good health, both Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and the Residency Review Board (RRB) stated that his case was no different to many others in reality:

Read more about

101-year-old man allowed to remain in New Zealand

New Zealand immigration policy is seen as a contributing factor to the current baby boom.

New Zealand is experiencing the biggest baby boom since the 1960s which is putting increased strain on midwives and medical services.

The latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show more than 64,000 live babies were born in New Zealand last year, the most since 1963.

Experts say the buoyant economy is partly behind the rise in births and they believe there is a celebrity influence as well as the demographics of those emigrating to New Zealand.

University of Auckland demographer Dr Ward Friesen says the high birth rate recorded for women in their early thirties may be related to the high levels of migration because immigration is age selective and some women coming into New Zealand may delay having babies until they have migrated.

New Zealand's oldest immigrant has arrived in his new home country.

102-year-old Eric King-Turner and his Kiwi-born wife Doris, 88, will set up a new home in his wife's hometown of Nelson where he intends to indulge his passion for fly fishing.

"I'm delighted to be here. My wife lived with me for 13 years in Britain so I thought she might be getting homesick."

"It's a wonderful new adventure and I would say to anyone that if you want to do something you should do it straight away while you can. What's important is that when I'm 105 I don't want to be thinking 'I wish I had moved to the other side of the world when I was 102'."

Meanwhile the 101-year-old widower who had his application to emigrate to New Zealand declined has been granted residency after intervention from New Zealand Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove, who asked immigration officials to take another look at the man's case.

The widower, a retired research chemist who has been living with his English-born New Zealand-resident son since 2006, was refused residency on a technicality - his son hadn't lived here for the required minimum 184 days in each of the three years before his application was made.

Mr Cosgrove said both he and Associate Immigration Minister Shane Jones had discretion to ask officials to look again at exceptional cases referred to them. Ministerial intervention was rarely used and only in exceptional circumstances.

A New Zealand-based research and analysis firm has announced that 2008 could be an even tighter year for the country’s IT industry, causing project costs to rise over the course of the year.

The report, compiled by IDC, stated: “It is time to accept responsibility for counteracting the effects of the continuing New Zealand skill shortage. Whilst government and industry initiative might assist in mitigating the problem in the long run, companies need to address the most salient issues around attracting and retaining high-performing staff autonomously.”

Furthermore, IDC also believes that wages in the IT sector will increase in 2008, making now the ideal time for skilled professionals emigrating to New Zealand.