Seventeen thousand people arrived in NZ on work visas in November

Economy / news

More than 200,000 people on work visas arrived in New Zealand in the November year

15th Dec 23, 10:46am by Greg Ninness

The number of people arriving in New Zealand on work visas declined for the second month in a row in November.

According to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, there were 17,058 arrivals on work visas in November, down from 18,627 in October and 19,533 in September.

That drop was not unexpected, because work-related migration flows follow a clear seasonal pattern and there's usually a decline in arrivals leading up to the end of the year, and then a big jump in January.

Work visa arrivals have risen quickly since pandemic travel restrictions were lifted. In the 12 months to the end of November 204,114 people arrived in NZ on work visas.

Arrival numbers are likely to remain high for some time, with another 17,721 work visas approved in November this year.

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29 Comments

by Mr Frank | 15th Dec 23, 11:00am 1702591236

I'm surprised we have enough jobs around.

by Kauri | 15th Dec 23, 11:29am 1702592983

What counts as a job? If an employer pays their employee and then their employee pays their employer so as to have a job and a work visa, is that really a job or just a ponzi scheme or worse - some form of bonded labour or servitude. I suspect the amount of "jobs" out there that are a negative drain on our economy and society is huge.

by Makara | 15th Dec 23, 5:42pm 1702615349

The same story is playing out in many developed countries - UK, EU and Australia being recent examples where the government's are finally waking up. The immigration system is a rort, and our standard of living has been decreasing as people swamp in and the government makes no corresponding investments in infrastructure or services.

Seems to me population growth is always a COST, particularly to those already resident. And for what upside exactly?

I hope NZ follows suit on drastically reducing immigration numbers. Employers are simply profiteering at societies cost.

by Pa1nter | 15th Dec 23, 7:18pm 1702621091

Seems to me population growth is always a COST, particularly to those already resident. And for what upside exactly?

To not turn into somewhere like Italy or Spain.

by Pa1nter | 15th Dec 23, 12:12pm 1702595552

We have to consider the lag effect between someone applying for a visa, getting a visa, and arriving. The people flowing in today will be part of a process that started a while ago.

All of the numbers being reported today we comment on are indexes of things that are a while in the making.

by MikeM | 16th Dec 23, 7:56am 1702666594

@Mr Frank, there aren't enough jobs. It's not like it was a couple of years ago. It will be more difficult to find a job going forward, especially given the competition arriving by the plane load every day. I think there will be an upside surprise in the next unemployment release.

by Grattaway | 15th Dec 23, 11:41am 1702593699

This is soooo bad - 50,000 people turned up in three months to do what!!!

and live where!!

Even Auckland's mayor said yesterday that we could do without this thank you very much as it will be impossible to get on top of an infrastructure deficit if we keep increasing the demand for more.

by donny11 | 15th Dec 23, 12:17pm 1702595873

A lot of them live in bunks in studio apartments etc. you can fit 8 people into a 40sqm studio.

by Makara | 15th Dec 23, 5:44pm 1702615461

They need to dump the “accredited employer visa”. Self regulation NEVER works, profit motive is always king. When will we learn?

by Murray Falconer | 15th Dec 23, 6:30pm 1702618205

to do what[?]

- gain residence for the most part if you're talking about those from Asia

and live where[?]

- immaterial to them, eye is on the hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits residence will provide them and their families which is logical and completely understandable to those with an open mind and ignored by the 'kiwi workers are lazy' brigade

Some of us have been asking the why on immigration for over 20 years. Others still don't get it despite this sort of thing being reported Former restaurant owners who exploited migrants ordered to pay $423,000 (msn.com). How many honest operators were put out of business by these guys? Rinse and repeat.

TOP 1.0's policy #2 was correct on immigration, come visit and study, but not stay (https://www.facebook.com/garethmorgannz/videos/1311553772219791/).

by J.C. | 15th Dec 23, 12:17pm 1702595868

Bringing them in to build the favelas? My feeling is that NZ is too cold for favelas and shanty towns. But I guess the sheeple would conclude that our bureaucrats and consultants know what they're doing. Still can't help me think that ultimately there are few winners in all this.

by timbob | 15th Dec 23, 3:28pm 1702607303

The winners will be sports stores selling tents..

by WestieAJ | 15th Dec 23, 12:49pm 1702597772

Where are they living? Its a genuine question.

Auckland had 146691 active tenancy bonds in October 2022 for October 2023 there were 153615. An increase of only 6924.

by Makara | 15th Dec 23, 5:45pm 1702615542

Very good question. Id forward that query to our media to dig further.

by 1689 Baptist | 15th Dec 23, 1:58pm 1702601935

I am almost disappointed I didn't vote TPM. They were the only party putting up any opposition to immigration in the election. Right now it seems like it is the only thing that matters

by J.C. | 15th Dec 23, 2:20pm 1702603227

I am almost disappointed I didn't vote TPM. They were the only party putting up any opposition to immigration in the election. Right now it seems like it is the only thing that matters

Do you think they would have actually done anything about restricting immigration? Don't be so sure. Watch what they do, not what they say. TPM, Team Xindy, the Wingnuts.

by sharetrader | 15th Dec 23, 2:51pm 1702605086

that is the same for all the parties, before the election national were saying we are not bringing enough people in, labour were using the national playbook to pump the economy up, DS wants to sell entry in NZ, the greens want to invite every refuge into NZ first have gone silent

by Makara | 15th Dec 23, 5:47pm 1702615660

NZF are the biggest disappointment. Cant believe immigration it wasn't part of their coalition agreement…

by Murray Falconer | 15th Dec 23, 6:34pm 1702618471

Why? It was in their 2017 agreement with Labour and they left office at record levels so based on that it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

A vote for NZF this time wasn't about immigration, it was about curtailing NACT a little everywhere.

by K.W. | 15th Dec 23, 4:15pm 1702610145

So if the economy was in recession for 3 out of the last 4 quarters, what were all these people brought in to do? 200,000 extra workers requires businesses to be expanding not contracting.

by Murray Falconer | 16th Dec 23, 10:00am 1702674030

You can never have low enough wages according to some employers and it seems the mainly wage-earning voters agree with them. Don't you know pretty much anything is better than training locals and paying higher wages? Police believe they may have uncovered human trafficking, migrant exploitation in Hawke's Bay (msn.com).

There have been new parties that didn't want high immigration such as TOP in 2017 and they were largely shunned by the electorate that consists of mainly wage earners in favour of career politicians who are so unhuman they're able put the country before their careers.

Sarcasm almost certainly exists in the above paragraphs.

by Makara | 15th Dec 23, 5:51pm 1702615919

Am I the only one that finds articles such as this offensive, as if the opinion of over stayers who have broken the law, is somehow relevant in setting immigration settings. This “woke” mentality is seriously dangerous:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/indonz/498932/overstayers-express-concern-ov…

by Murray Falconer | 15th Dec 23, 7:44pm 1702622676

No. NZ is a soft touch, everyone already here pays the price as David Seymour said on election night 1/5000000th of NZ and he was already overstating each persons diminishing share.

I know non-English speakers that vote NZF based on their misplaced belief Winston will curtail future immigration (they know what they left and don't like it continuing to arrive). Admirable, maybe selfish, but certainly more forward thinking than the average born here person as to where it ends.

by Nzdan | 17th Dec 23, 9:46am 1702759574

The criminals are now the victims in this country. What's next? Do we introduce squatters rights, where landlords must hand over the title if their tenants overstay their tenancy?

by kiwi_overseas | 16th Dec 23, 9:54am 1702673650

Insanity.

by Wrong John | 16th Dec 23, 12:27pm 1702682820

Another thing on my to do list would be a large holding facility near Auckland Airport where those who arrive & we're not sure about could be housed until such issues are sorted. It might even make a great safe house during the next pandemic, which all the elites keep reminding us is coming soon.

by wingman | 16th Dec 23, 5:41pm 1702701701

And there's people in this country that think rents will be coming down.

by Murray Falconer | 16th Dec 23, 10:14pm 1702718041

Great to see another poster understands the link between more people arriving to live here and higher rents.

by Pomte | 16th Dec 23, 9:48pm 1702716539

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gonFfAUg-h6EXF3BCKIpyZ6iK9K7w-k…