Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register New Zealand will make temporary changes to immigration rules, a minister said on Sunday, aiming to attract 12,000 workers next year with a working holiday program designed to fill job vacancies as businesses scramble to find staff. The worker unrest is part of a global trend that has helped boost wages in New Zealand, posing a challenge to the central bank’s fight against inflation, which raised interest rates last week to the highest since September 2015. Read more “These measures are about providing immediate relief to those businesses hardest hit by the global labor shortage,” Immigration Minister Michael Wood said in a statement, adding that the holiday scheme was aimed at doubling recruitment. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Other steps include relaxing wage rules for skilled migrants in sectors such as aged care, construction and infrastructure, meat processing, seafood and adventure tourism. The visas of some shore-based holidaymakers will also be extended by six months to keep them working now in the country, Wood added. “Workforce challenges are seen across all skill levels and sectors,” he said. “New Zealand is not alone in this.” The measures come as the unemployment rate stood at 3.3% in the second quarter, when wages also rose 3.4% year-on-year, marking the fastest pace in 14 years. Last week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 3.0%, in a seventh consecutive hike to curb inflation. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Sam McKeith. Edited by Clarence Fernandez Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
