The country’s already constrained job market is under further strain as a result of New Zealand’s relaxing of its rigorous border controls, which has caused a surge of new departures among locals looking for new possibilities abroad.
According to government data released on Tuesday, a net 10,674 persons departed the country in the 12 months leading up to May, continuing an outflow that began during the previous year and is anticipated to continue until more immigrants begin to enter the country in higher numbers in 2023.
As the economy approaches full employment and the number of foreign employees is still extremely low, this exodus occurs as New Zealand tries to fill positions.
Since Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week dodged questions about his country’s health services stealing New Zealand nurses to meet their own shortages, the topic has gained some political traction.
Mark Beale and his family were prepared for a fresh experience after months of lockdown in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. At the beginning of the year, he accepted the opportunity to move to Australia’s Gold Coast without hesitation.
The 49-year-old export manager claimed that the lockdown provided him time to think about his goals and that if he didn’t travel now, he would never be able to avoid them.
Beale recalled, “We were on the first plane into Queensland that did not require mandatory quarantine.”
In the two years following the onset of the epidemic, New Zealand’s government attempted to keep the coronavirus outside by implementing some of the strictest border controls in the whole world.
There were no limitations on leaving the country, but individuals were deterred from traveling because they feared delays upon their return. As a result, there was a long line of citizens ready to leave, with many, like Beale, doing just that.
In the past, New Zealanders typically left the country in their 20s and early 30s to work and travel, mostly in Europe. Kiwis have historically traveled to Australia in search of employment opportunities or warmer climates.
Over 1 million New Zealanders, or more than 15% of the population, reside outside of the nation, giving rise to ongoing worries about a brain drain.
By the end of this year, Kiwibank’s chief economist Jarrod Kerr anticipates annual net emigration to be about 20,000, which will increase wage and inflation pressures as employees look for work and other possibilities abroad. In contrast, New Zealand, where about one in four residents were born abroad, saw a net influx of 72,588 visitors in 2019 prior to the pandemic.
Kiwis who would have otherwise departed during the previous two and a half years are doing so right now, and we anticipate this trend to continue. It’s the way of the Kiwi.
That would aggravate the already difficult labor market even further.
We’re losing individuals in their prime and businesses are having a tremendously hard time finding workers, according to Kerr.
With a rise in immigrants from nations like India, China, and South Africa, he anticipates that things might get better the next year.
Around 4% of New Zealanders planned to relocate abroad to live and work, according to consumer data from the Australian company MYOB published earlier this month. They cited expectations of a higher pay, a greater standard of living, or a specific lifestyle.
The head of employee services at MYOB, Felicity Brown, stated in a statement, “This has the makings of a real crisis in the local jobs sector, with the lack of available staff making it even more tough for many firms to function or expand to meet local demand.”
