It’s tough to hire new staff at the moment – the labour shortage has reached a critical level, with record employment and very low immigration. If you’re having trouble filling crucial job vacancies at your business, you might still be able to employ someone from overseas.

Overseas workers are a great addition to any team and with the current employment market, it's an idea that many are considering. Overseas workers can provide access to knowledge and experiences we may not have on our New Zealand (NZ) based business team. They are usually motivated and passionate about their move to a new country and this can bring great energy into your business environment.

So if you're considering hiring an Overseas worker, the next step in the process is deciding whether to hire directly from Overseas or to employ a newly migrated worker from within NZ. 

Migrants already in New Zealand

Migrants already living in New Zealand, who have visas, have had their visas extended. They can usually work for any employer, although there may be some restrictions depending on the individual visa. You can find out more about employing migrants already in New Zealand here.

Bringing in an employee from overseas

As an employer, you can also bring workers into New Zealand. This requires an investment of time and money, but it can be worthwhile if you are really struggling to find someone for that pivotal role. There is quite a long list of approved classes of critical workers, and you can request entry if you’re looking for someone in one of these jobs. This includes tech sector workers, vets, advanced manufacturing specialists, auditors and many more (you can see the full list here).

The role you’re offering needs to be paying at least $27 an hour for these approved classes of workers, and you need to demonstrate that you can’t find someone local to do the role. You can also employ other workers, whose roles aren’t on that list, but you’ll need to pay at least $40.50 an hour and also show you couldn’t find a Kiwi to do the job.

One option is to use an agency to help guide you through the process of bringing in an overseas worker to fill a role within your company. Expect this to take up to three months and cost up to $10,000.

Is it worthwhile going through this process?

Considering the time and money involved, would it be worthwhile to hire from overseas? It is debateable. The recommendation is to run a cost-benefit analysis first to see whether it stacks up. Points to consider include:

• What role is your business trying to fill? 
• Does your business have the time and resources to establish an Overseas worker in the role and also (if hiring directly from Overseas) does your business have the time to wait for this employee to migrate? 
• Weigh the above point against time and effort to search for a NZ Resident employee and keep an open mind as this could take quite some time given the current market.
• Consider restructuring your business and the short term costs involved to make the work load lighter and more manageable for current staff members. 

Answering the above questions are only a starting point for considering an overseas worker and you may have additional considerations which are more closely related to your business. 

If you're feeling stuck or just need to chat things over, we'd like to help. We can also provide ideas for ways your business could become more productive, through systems or tweaks to help get the most from your current team.