An estimate of the true loss of revenue from primary sector exports due to last season’s labour shortages and shipping issues has finally been revealed, and it’s more than $400m.
That is the value of product left on the floor of meat works, and apples and kiwifruit left unpicked, representing millions of dollars in lost income. It makes disturbing reading given the financial challenges New Zealand faces.
There are already warnings that those same labour-limiting factors may once again come into play in the coming season, with people able to travel again as global borders reopen at a time of an already tight labour market.
However, news this week that the meat industry has been given accredited employer visa status should take the edge off its worker shortage
There are several elements to this issue, of which covid is one.
The government has tightened immigration in a deliberate move to drive up wages and to take pressure off house prices and infrastructure.
But is this a NZ-imposed solution for a predominantly Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch problem?
Meat, kiwifruit and apples are regional industries mostly situated well away from large employment centres and have relied on backpackers, recognised seasonal employer workers, migrants and a shrinking local labour pool.
Primary sector wages have risen, and incentives and flexible employment conditions have been offered, but despite these carrots, they cannot attract sufficient workers.
It appears workers are simply not where the jobs are.
This leaves the options of encouraging workers to shift to where there are jobs, using a stick to get the unemployed to work, or seeking workers from overseas.
What is particularly galling is that the meat and apple industries have made huge strides to improve productivity and develop products for markets, and kiwifruit is a NZ success story.
There is a risk some of the hard work to find and develop products to suit markets could be lost if we simply cannot find enough people to harvest and process those products.
