Hospitality in peril, wants more from visa changes

The government has extended working holiday and seasonal employment visas for 10,000 foreigners but the Restaurant Association says the sector is in peril, and the extension does not go far enough.

Foreign seasonal workers can now get jobs in any industry, not just on orchards and vineyards.

However, association chief executive Marisa Bidois said most of its temporary visa holders were on essential skills work visas, and there was still no plan to extend these.

The hospitality sector’s pleas to the government were falling on deaf ears, and it needed immediate help to ensure the survival of its industry, she said.

“With the government’s recent immigration reset announcement, there is palpable fear that its approach to ideological-based policy could see our industry scythed once again — but this time it will be government-induced.

“We were experiencing a skills shortage prior to border closures, but the sector is amid a skill shortage at levels never seen before.

“Ninety-two members say per it is cent of our difficult to

recruit for mid positions.

“Under normal circumstances, approximately 30 per cent of our industry is made up of those on temporary work visas, and in some cases, that figure is closer to 60 per cent.

The association wanted the government to pause the planned increase to hourly wage thresholds when applying for an essential skills visa; extend the visas of all employer-assisted to senior skilllevel

work visa holders; allow border exceptions for critical hospitality workers; and extend the hours those on student visas are allowed to work, Bidois said.

The association launched a petition and will hold stopwork events to highlight staffing problems in the sector.

Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Julie White said the industry was in crisis.

“We need something now that’s going to give businesses the skills they need to operate now, and migrants are the answer, but we’ve been hard-pressed to convince the government of this.

“Before covid, these people filled a critical gap, but access to them has been turned off while the borders have been closed.

“You can’t just turn off that tap and expect the industry to find skilled Kiwis to replace them because there just aren’t any.”

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