Skill shortages in the future mean that crucial parts of our society could be severely hampered:  Imagine poorly maintained essential services and rising inflation.  Future proofing 'NZ inc' should be a legacy that we all want to leave behind, a promise we all wish to keep.  Whilst we don't know for sure what the future holds, where it is predicted that certain problems will arise, we need to start taking steps now so that these are minimised.

One of the most obvious ways to do this, is to right now be attracting professionals who have been trained and have experience in other countries:  skilled immigrants.   Auckland already attracts international talent and is the seventh ranked city in the world with 37% of Aucklanders not born in New Zealand, and people of 181 different ethnicities residing in its regional boundaries.³  Immigrant talent is here and committed.

But New Zealand is yet to effectively tap into the talent and diversity it currently houses, with “nearly 50% of all skilled migrants to New Zealand [are] inactive, unemployed or confined to jobs for which they are over-qualified”⁴. Getting skilled immigrants into jobs that fit is both an instant lift to productivity, and opens up local jobs for other semi-skilled people. 
 

Barriers such as a lack of information, inadequate recognition of international qualifications, lack of upgrading opportunities, lack of networks and social capital, and lack of opportunities to gain New Zealand work experience are real for skilled immigrants.  There is anecdotal but frequent evidence of immigrant accountants, engineers or lawyers driving taxis or flipping burgers.

The diversity skilled immigrants bring to New Zealand lifts innovation and productivity. In the USA, more than half of Silicon Valley start-ups were founded by immigrants over the last decade, employing 450,000 people with sales of $52 billion in 2005.  Similarly, managing diversity effectively in Auckland and New Zealand means a productive, vibrant and cosmopolitan country, and there are Kiwi companies that are constantly looking for ways to make their workplaces welcoming and open to skilled immigrants, and believe that diversity within their organisations rewards them with innovation and gives them the edge when competing locally and internationally.

This is where the work of OMEGA comes in.  Programme records show that 80% of skilled immigrants who complete OMEGA’s flagship Mentoring Programme find relevant work within three months after completing their sixteen week mentoring partnership. 

¹ Business NZ survey

²The Global Skills Convergence: Issues and ideas for the management of an international workforce Bernard Salt, KPMG, September 2008

³Immigration and Ethnicity in the Auckland region.  2006 Census series.

⁴ OECD, International Migration Outlook, 2007