NEW ZEALAND IMMIGRATION NEWS

Immigration: New Zealand increased salaries to attract skilled workers

Friday, 22 February 2008

Recently released government statistics have showed New Zealanders are earning more money, and the country is hoping that this would increase immigration to solve its shortage of skilled workers.

There's been a strong demand for good talent, and salaries aren't holding back to recruit overseas workers to fill these positions.

Salaries lie in the region of between $60,000 and $250,000, particularly in the sectors of sales and marketing, human resources, finance, banking and information technology.

New Zealand has experienced the highest annual increase since 1992. According to the Labour Cost Index, there's been a 3.4% increase in salary and wage rates in the year to the December 2007 quarter. Rates include overtime.

Another survey by Statistics New Zealand states that New Zealand's unemployment rate in the quarter ending in December fell to a record 3.4%, the lowest since a household labour force survey was introduced to measure the jobless rate 20 years ago.

But even though a total of 23,000 people have found jobs in the December quarter, building the workforce to a record 2,173,000, New Zealand is still in need of skilled workers.

Some economists believe that higher wages may be behind this record rise in employment.

If you would like to work in New Zealand, find out for which work visa you qualify for by filling in our online visa eligibility assessment.

Your work visa could be your next step to immigration to New Zealand!