New Zealand announces “Recruitment Drive” for Swiss workers

A group of New Zealand companies have teamed up and will be arriving in Switzerland in a bid to attract more international workers on a recruitment drive in November. Canstaff, Heartland Immigration, New Zealand Dairy Careers and Switzerland based company Spracherlebnisreisen GmbH are offering short term work experiences and long term lifestyle opportunities to fill skill shortage gaps in New Zealand.

According to the Business, Innovation and Employment Ministry of New Zealand forecasts, one in five new jobs created in New Zealand between 2017 to 2019 will be in the construction industry and the situation for New Zealand's primary industries is just as extreme, with at least another 50,000 skilled workers needed by 2025. This is due to rapid technological innovation, an increasingly competitive global market, the Canterbury rebuild, and Queenstown's commercial and Auckland’s housing booms.

The driving force behind the alliance is to recruit workers across a number of industries affected most by labour shortages; construction, professional engineering and agricultural. The group will be presenting one-off seminars and interviews during a tour of Switzerland in November.

Spracherlebnisreisen GmbH offer English language courses in New Zealand and Switzerland. Spokesperson, Ueli Beer says, “Travelling, learning languages and experiencing new cultures, that is what young and interested people are looking for these days. My goal is that the experience for the students is amazing and they take it back to remember for a lifetime”.

Canstaff have a history of recruiting young carpenters, joiners and tradespeople from Switzerland for the past five years. Managing Director Matt Jones says “Swiss workers have a stellar reputation as skilled, safe, and reliable workers throughout New Zealand. We find that the Swiss are very well educated, have great skills and are a pleasure to work with. All of our applicants have returned to Switzerland with new skills and a good story to tell”. Previous applicants have stayed for an average of twelve months. During this time, they travel, earn a good wage, and enjoy the relaxed kiwi lifestyle.

Canstaff operates a globally recognised recruitment company and have identified that recruiting overseas workers was the only way to assist struggling employers get the staff they need. “We are experiencing a huge demand for skilled staff throughout New Zealand, which cannot be met by local applicants,” said Jones

NZ Dairy Careers are the leading providers of skilled labour to dairy farms in New Zealand, and also offer short or long term training programmes to international candidates.The programme combines industry best practice, practical on job learning and classroom learning, to develop valuable dairy industry skills.

“This is a unique opportunity to experience life in another country and live the dream while learning New Zealand’s open pasture production system which has evolved to be the most efficient and low-cost producer in the world," said NZ Dairy Careers project manager, Trina Moore.

Heartland Immigration will assist to submit all necessary paperwork to get successful applicants’ journey to New Zealand underway. “All they need to do is apply and our specialist staff will guide them every step of the way,” said Managing Director Mary Noonan.

Seminars will be held between 26th November - 30th November in Zurich, Basel, Bern and Geneva. To meet one with one of the representatives and for more details pre register by visiting www.canstaff.co.nz/switzerland.html