South Island tourism and hospitality businesses are calling for a temporary wage exemption to the Government's new Accredited Employer Work Visa until they get back on their feet.
After two years of limited visitors, operators say they cannot afford the new $27.76 an hour rate proposed.
Wānaka is gearing up to welcome back international visitors but there is a big problem.
Tourism and hospitality businesses in the South say they can’t afford the Government’s proposed wage. (Source: 1News)
Catherine Bone from Edgewater Resort Hotel and Borna Parsons from Federal Diner are struggling to find staff to fill roles.
"I need 35 staff," Bone said.
Parsons says she needs "maybe another 10 full-time staff and maybe 5 part-time staff".
Housekeepers and waiters are just some of the roles that are proving hard to get.
"We haven't been able to find them, they are just not here. I'm not sure where they are or if there are any," says Parsons.
"Filling those [roles[ with New Zealanders is absolutely great... but there's just not the interest, and it's not exclusive to New Zealand," says Bone.
So they looked overseas, but under the Government's new Accredited Employer Work Visa, which starts in July, they will need to pay the median wage of nearly $28 an hour.
The tourism and hospitality industries have been one hit hardest by the pandemic and they could well be the last to recover along with events.
They have got through the past two years with Kiwi support, but they say they are not in a financial position yet to pay the new price.
"That's not in my budget to employ somebody at $28 an hour for an entry level position," Bone says.
Stats NZ figures show around 66,000 tourism workers lost their jobs in the first year of the pandemic - that's around a third of the industry's workforce.
Businesses say it could take at least 18 months to get those numbers back.
Steve Hanrahan from Tourism Industry Aotearoa says the representative body supports the new visa, but believes the timing is off.
"We are concerned there may be a reduction in services and close down some of the accommodation wings, the restaurants might not be able to open," he says.
And customers could also pay a price.
"A cup of coffee could end up costing you $10," says Bone.
"If I'm paying someone overseas $27.76 to be a waiter, I also need to pay my Kiwi waiters who are on $22 to $23, I have to pay them $27... it pushes the wages up throughout the business."
They're calling for a two-year exemption until businesses bounce back.
"If the government wants tourism and hospitality businesses to work towards paying median wage then we need to have healthy businesses," says Steve Hanrahan.
"Tourism businesses at the moment are at their lowest ebb."
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi told 1News the Government is "...continuing to talk with [businesses] and officials had a relatively robust meeting with them last week... we haven't finalised decisions so we will take their feedback into account".
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