12 May 2009

Emigrating to New Zealand promoted in job sector by ARMS

The Auckland Regional Migrant Services (ARMS), an organisation dedicated to people emigrating to New Zealand, will be holding an information sharing evening to promote the employment of migrants and refugees.

ARMS is a charitable trust that provides settlement information for people emigrating to New Zealand.  During the economic recession, the numbers of people emigrating to New Zealand have not slowed drastically, and ARMS is finding that newcomers are not getting work as easily as they had hoped. 

While Immigration New Zealand has pulled in the reins on the temporary New Zealand work permit program, the Prime Minister John Key has reassured businesses that the New Zealand skilled migration program would continue to draw in the skills needed so that the economy can remain buoyant and eventually grow.

"New Zealand needs skilled migrants to grow," The Age reported him as saying. 

"We have a skills deficit and while that may abate slightly because of the downturn in the economy and growing unemployment, we still need to make sure we have got enough skills to grow our economy and develop further."

However, if New Zealand wants to maintain its reputation as a world-class destination for migrants, businesses need to be better prepared to hire people emigrating to New Zealand, and understand the benefits and challenges associated with this, says ARMS.

The Local Settlement Network (LSN) for Auckland City will host a workshop on 20 May 2009 for businesses, community organisations, service providers, and migrants that will focus on the benefits of employing people emigrating to New Zealand during the economic recession.

Key guest speakers for this presentation includes Mr. Raymond Huo, Labour List MP, Mr. Mitchell Pham, Manager for AugeneHEALTH & AugenAsia and Mr. Arthur Chin, Head of Asian Banking for ANZ National Bank.

"This is an opportunity to find out about the benefits of a diverse workforce and how the apparent risks of employing migrants and refugees can be managed effectively," ARMS said in a press release this week.

"It will also be an opportunity to direct questions to the presenters and to discuss the concerns you may have with others."

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The New Zealand Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with emigrating to New Zealand.