The horticulture and winegrowing sector is set to have 1600 more workers added this season.
It comes after the Government agreed to increase the Recognised Seasonal Employment Scheme (RSE) cap to 16,000.
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said, “we’ve increased the cap for the 2021/2022 season from 14,400 to 16,000 so employers in the horticulture and winegrowing sector can access more labour to help with planting, maintenance, harvesting, packing and winter pruning.”
“It will also help set the sector up for the next season,” they said.
“We’ve supported the sector to bring over 5550 RSE workers to New Zealand since our borders closed in March 2020, the largest economic-based class border exception to date.
“This is in addition to the approximately 3000 RSE workers who were already in New Zealand when our borders closed and have continued working here,” the pair said.
Before Covid-19 the Government set out conditions the sector needed to meet before an increase to the scheme’s gap would be considered.
This included making jobs more accessible to Kiwis by improving wages and working conditions.
Another factor has been reducing pressure on existing housing stock in some areas, by providing purpose-built accommodation.
“The sector has made good progress in these areas with wages having increased relative to the minimum wage and a significant increase in the number of purpose-built beds for workers,” O’Connor said.
“The Government has worked hard alongside the food and fibre sector to also get Kiwis into jobs through our ‘Opportunity Grows Here’ campaign and Primary Sector Workforce Programme.
“This work has helped attract nearly 10,000 people into food and fibre sector jobs, but it’s clear our horticulture and winegrowing sectors need some extra help due to the seasonal peaks in workload.
“Our food and fibre sector continues to drive New Zealand’s economic recovery from Covid-19 with export revenue expected to top $50.8 billion by June 30, 2022.
This is testament to the commitment and resilience of the more than 367,000 hardworking people on the land and in the supply chains,” O’Connor said.
“The government also granted a six-month extension in October for more than 8500 Working Holiday and Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) visa holders in New Zealand so the sector can continue to utilise this existing workforce,” the pair said.
The phased reopening of the Working Holiday Schemes from March 13 will also provide the sector with access to more workers to help close out the season.
“While we are announcing an increase to the cap for this season, it is important to note the ability to access the full cap may be impacted by pressures faced by labour-sending countries, such as localised Covid-19 outbreaks and the recent volcanic eruption in Tonga,” Faafoi said.
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