Praise for green list boost
The decision to add skilled motor mechanics to the immigration green list is a massive boost for an automotive industry battling a crippling labour shortage, according to the Motor Trade Association (MTA).
Its chief executive, Ian Pike, says: “We are extremely grateful to Minister Wood for hearing the call of the industry and taking this step to support businesses across the country.”
Minister for Immigration, Michael Wood, has announced skilled motor mechanics will be added to the green list from March 2023. He has acknowledged “listening to the concerns of these sectors, and working with them to take practicable steps to unlock additional labour… to help fill skills gaps as businesses work towards more productive and resilient ways of operating”.
At the start of November, Trade Me had more than 1,300 job listings in the automotive industry, while Seek had 1,500. The majority were for motor mechanics, also referred to in the industry as automotive technicians.
“This just shows how dire the shortage is,” says Pike, pictured. “It’s been the number-one issue keeping MTA members awake at night for some time. The shortage has been hurting a lot of businesses with flow-on negative effects to communities and important government projects.”
The MTA has long advocated for looser immigration settings and met with Wood recently to advocate for the addition of roles to the green list.
As a result of the labour shortage, the association regularly hears of businesses being forced to close because they can’t secure staff to fill vacancies, and increased mental-health stress for business owners from long hours and financial pressure.
There have also been negative impacts on consumers, such as long wait times for essential maintenance and repair, and an ageing business-owner workforce has been having to defer retirement.
“Most businesses want to hire locally,” says Pike. “However, a survey MTA ran in October 2022 found that when members tried to recruit locally, in more than 80 per cent of cases they received either no applications or applications that were clearly unsuitable.
“We urged Minister Wood many times to address this situation by smoothing pathways for foreign workers to come here and give the industry much-needed support. We are extremely pleased and grateful he has listened and acted.”
Previously, immigration settings in the skilled-migrant category effectively made it impossible for migrant automotive workers to come to New Zealand because their qualifications were not deemed high enough and they were required to earn one-and-a-half times the median wage.
The change will also support the government’s road safety programmes, such as Road To Zero, and emissions reduction and climate-change targets.
The MTA and other agencies have a workplan for long-term solutions to engage, train and retain young people in the industry, which is clearly the desired long-term outcome.
However, this week’s announcement will help bridge the skill shortage in the automotive sector until such time that the local talent pool is developed, strengthened and industry-ready.
The MTA will continue to advocate for panel-beaters and vehicle painters, which were on the regional list but haven’t been carried over to the green list, to be added to the latter in 2023.
