Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast Kerre Woodham: Michael Wood has clearly never worked in hospo before
Jul 4, 2022
06:53
The hospitality sector is screaming for the Government to do its job.
The shortage of workers which is affecting just about every sector in New Zealand has hit the hospo sector particularly hard.
They say as New Zealand slowly gets its act together and opens up to the rest of the world, we could damage our reputation as a quality tourist destination.
It’s expensive to come here, it’s expensive to travel within the country - it's expensive to live here - but if tourists are spending top dollar then they'll want a quality experience.
And they're not going to have that if a shortage of hotel housekeepers means their rooms are only cleaned every three days or if pubs and restaurants are closed three days out of the week.
They are calling on the Government to start processing visa applications from people wanting to come and work here - Nat Party immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford says at least 74,000 phase two residence visa applications were received since March - barely 5 per cent had been processed by June 17.
New Immigration Minister Michael Wood says the Government is speeding up the processing - but that hospo should also consider how to make low wage jobs with insecure working conditions more attractive places to work.
The new immigration minister clearly never worked in hospo during his student days. If he had, he would know that for many hospo workers, it's the part time nature of the job that appeals. It pays good money to young people who want to work a few shifts a week to make a bit of extra coin.
The shortage of workers which is affecting just about every sector in New Zealand has hit the hospo sector particularly hard.
They say as New Zealand slowly gets its act together and opens up to the rest of the world, we could damage our reputation as a quality tourist destination.
It’s expensive to come here, it’s expensive to travel within the country - it's expensive to live here - but if tourists are spending top dollar then they'll want a quality experience.
And they're not going to have that if a shortage of hotel housekeepers means their rooms are only cleaned every three days or if pubs and restaurants are closed three days out of the week.
They are calling on the Government to start processing visa applications from people wanting to come and work here - Nat Party immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford says at least 74,000 phase two residence visa applications were received since March - barely 5 per cent had been processed by June 17.
New Immigration Minister Michael Wood says the Government is speeding up the processing - but that hospo should also consider how to make low wage jobs with insecure working conditions more attractive places to work.
The new immigration minister clearly never worked in hospo during his student days. If he had, he would know that for many hospo workers, it's the part time nature of the job that appeals. It pays good money to young people who want to work a few shifts a week to make a bit of extra coin.
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