Wednesday, 27 April 2022 06:55

When will they come?

Written by  Peter Burke
The Meat Industry Association says the extra 500 overseas workers will help but there are about 2,000 vacancies currently in the meat industry around NZ. The Meat Industry Association says the extra 500 overseas workers will help but there are about 2,000 vacancies currently in the meat industry around NZ.

An extra 500 workers will certainly help but only if they get here in time.

So says Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva following the Government's recent decision to allow an additional 500 migrant workers into NZ to work in the meat industry.

Karapeeva says it is great that the Government is actually acknowledging that there is a "real and chronic" labour shortage facing the meat industry and the extra workers will help to alleviate the pressure. But she told Rural News that a question mark hangs over the ability of Immigration NZ to process those visas quickly enough to get them working in NZ within the next month or so.

Karapeeva says there is a lot of pre-application work required, such as the migrants obtaining medical clearances and other checks.

"If a NZ company is working with a good recruiter overseas, that can be streamlined. The question is, once Immigration NZ receives the application, how quickly can they process that application to give the particular person the green light to come to NZ and start work?"

She says past experience suggests that the immigration system is "groaning" and has been for a very long time.

Karapeeva believes this raises the question about whether Immigration NZ will be able to cope with the huge number of applications. She says most of the migrant workers have some skills and will receive additional training when they arrive, and on the job, so there shouldn't be a huge time lag in upskilling these people.

It is estimated there are about 2,000 vacancies in the meat industry around NZ.

"Despite this labour shortage, the processing plants are doing everything they can to operate under such tight conditions, including extending and putting on new shifts," Karapeeva told Rural News.

"But they don't have enough people and that means that the carcass is not fully processed and that means that some value is lost."

She adds that given the current labour shortage, many companies are making hard decisions about whether to drop some of their further processing.

Karapeeva says the advantage of having migrant workers means there is a greater likelihood of having a killing chain operating at full capacity. She says that helps protect all jobs.

More like this

An annual event?

Meat Industry Association chief executive, Sirma Karapeeva, says she hopes that National Lamb Day will now take place every year.

Featured

Sheep drench resistance costly

Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.

Dairy sheep and goat turmoil

Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.

Hurry up and slow down!

OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.

National

Knowing bugs means fewer drugs

A mastitis management company claims to deliver the fastest and most accurate mastitis testing available at scale for New Zealand…

Machinery & Products

AGTEK and ARGO part ways

After 12 years of representing the Landini and McCormick brands in New Zealand, Bay of Plenty-based AGTEK and the brands’…

100 years of Farmall Tractors

Returning after an enforced break, the Wheat and Wheels Rally will take place on the Lauriston -Barhill Road, North-East of…

JD unveils its latest beast

John Deere has unveiled its most powerful tractor ever, with the launch of the all new 9RX Series Tractor line-up…

Biggest Quadtrac coming to NZ!

In the biggest announcement that Case IH Australia/New Zealand has made around its tractor range, its biggest tractor is about…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Why?

OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents…

Fat to cut

OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter