Wednesday, 27 April 2022 06:55

When will they come?

Written by  Peter Burke
The Meat Industry Association says the extra 500 overseas workers will help but there are about 2,000 vacancies currently in the meat industry around NZ. The Meat Industry Association says the extra 500 overseas workers will help but there are about 2,000 vacancies currently in the meat industry around NZ.

An extra 500 workers will certainly help but only if they get here in time.

So says Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva following the Government's recent decision to allow an additional 500 migrant workers into NZ to work in the meat industry.

Karapeeva says it is great that the Government is actually acknowledging that there is a "real and chronic" labour shortage facing the meat industry and the extra workers will help to alleviate the pressure. But she told Rural News that a question mark hangs over the ability of Immigration NZ to process those visas quickly enough to get them working in NZ within the next month or so.

Karapeeva says there is a lot of pre-application work required, such as the migrants obtaining medical clearances and other checks.

"If a NZ company is working with a good recruiter overseas, that can be streamlined. The question is, once Immigration NZ receives the application, how quickly can they process that application to give the particular person the green light to come to NZ and start work?"

She says past experience suggests that the immigration system is "groaning" and has been for a very long time.

Karapeeva believes this raises the question about whether Immigration NZ will be able to cope with the huge number of applications. She says most of the migrant workers have some skills and will receive additional training when they arrive, and on the job, so there shouldn't be a huge time lag in upskilling these people.

It is estimated there are about 2,000 vacancies in the meat industry around NZ.

"Despite this labour shortage, the processing plants are doing everything they can to operate under such tight conditions, including extending and putting on new shifts," Karapeeva told Rural News.

"But they don't have enough people and that means that the carcass is not fully processed and that means that some value is lost."

She adds that given the current labour shortage, many companies are making hard decisions about whether to drop some of their further processing.

Karapeeva says the advantage of having migrant workers means there is a greater likelihood of having a killing chain operating at full capacity. She says that helps protect all jobs.

More like this

Red meat's China push

The red meat sector is launching a new campaign to lure Chinese consumers to New Zealand grass-fed beef and lamb.

Primary sector chuffed

Meat Industry Association chair Nathan Guy says his organisation welcomes the new trade deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting the UAE is the second largest market for the red meat sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council after Saudi Arabia.

Featured

Better animal genetic gain system

A governance group has been formed, following extensive sector consultation, to implement the recommendations from the Industry Working Group's (IWG) final report and is said to be forming a 'road map' for improving New Zealand's animal genetic gain system.

SIDE 2025's new schedule, venue

Annual farmer gathering, the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE), is set to make history as it heads to Timaru for the first time.

Taranaki piggery goes solar

Installing 400 solar panels at their Taranaki piggery and cropping operation will have significant environmental, financial and animal welfare benefits for the Stanley family.

Editorial: Keep FTAs coming

OPINION: The dairy industry will  be a major beneficiary of a new free trade deal between NZ and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).

National

Food charity to hold online auction

Meat the Need, New Zealand’s dedicated charity delivering locally sourced protein meals to food-insecure communities, is launching an online National…

Machinery & Products

An ideal solution for larger farms

Designed specifically for large farms that want to drill with maximum flexibility, efficiency and power, the new Lemken Solitair ST…

Landpower increases its offering

Landpower and the Claas Harvest Centre network will launch the Claas Scorpion and Torion material handling solutions to the market…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Leaky waka

OPINION: Was the ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in…

Know-it-alls

OPINION: A reader recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter