Hort Talk with Mike Chapman HorticultureNZ CEO

 Harvest for some crops is well underway and for apples and kiwifruit it’s but a few  months’ away.

Already the signs for labour are very grim. Reports from strawberries and asparagus confirm there are very few backpackers looking for horticulture work and even less New Zealanders that will turn up for work every day.

It looks like next year we will face a much tougher season than even last year finding workers. It is not just horticulture that is struggling to find workers, it is every sector in NZ from tourism, to truck driving, to aged care workers and teachers.

Australia is facing similar problems. But Australia has some solutions. Their immediate response to labour shortages is to make it much easier for seasonal and semi-permanent foreign workers to come and work on their farms, in their orchards and commercial vegetable gardens. There is no cap on the Australian equivalent of our Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme.

No limit in Oz

The RSE scheme and the Australian equivalent, permits Pacific workers to come to NZ and Australia for harvest and pruning, and then to go home. That means, Australian employers have no limit on the number of Pacific Islander workers they can employ, and they can work for nine months. It’s not surprising the numbers of Pacific Islander workers in Australian horticulture in the last two years has increased by 40 per cent.

In addition for entry-level and medium-skilled jobs for all small to medium-sized businesses, whether rural or urban, foreign workers can come into Australia for three years. The Australian Government has moved to put in place an immediate fix – allowing more workers in. Regrettably, this is taking these workers away from NZ, making our situation worse.

We’re grateful our Government recently lifted the cap on the number of RSE Pacific Island workers that can come into NZ for harvest and pruning.

Not enough

But that will not be enough and, in any event, the RSE scheme cannot be the sole solution for all of New Zealand’s labour supply crisis.  Like Australia our Government needs to look to other solutions that involve both equipping the 100,000 or so unemployed New Zealanders for work and allowing other immigration options.

In time robots and artificial intelligence will make a difference. But that will not happen this year or next year. When robotics and AI eventually make a difference, it is likely there will be a whole new series of social and other problems and again a lack of skilled labour to make and keep them working. Plus there will always be a need for seasonal labour for harvest and pruning, perhaps not as many workers; but still a need.

NZ’s urban and rural businesses are largely small to medium-sized enterprises. In many cases owners are hands-on and provide much of the innovation, lifting performance of their businesses. This is true for most of our farms, orchards and commercial vegetable gardens. It’s a strength of our rural sector.

Urgent attention

People who care about their land and sustain NZ’s economic wellbeing are the owners of the businesses and inter-generational stewards of the land. But these rural businesses, including the rural and urban infrastructure that supports them, need skilled and reliable workers to continue to operate, let alone grow, and they need these workers today.

The labour crisis this country is facing needs urgent attention. Like Australia we need to look to fixing the problem today while working on the future solution that will be a mix of workers, robots and AI. It is time to act now before the labour crisis gets any worse and take a leaf out of Australia’s book.