Lincoln Tan: Good job opportunities for immigrants just a big fat lie

Over the past two weeks, the Aucklander ran stories and letters on skilled migrants struggling to find work matching their skills in New Zealand.

These included a BBC journalist from Romania who became a checkout operator, a scientist from India who became a cook in KFC and an international airline pilot from Russia who could get work only as a carpenter.

Letters responding to that article from others facing similar situations followed - including one from an Iraqi nuclear scientist who is now a newspaper deliveryman.

While there's no firm statistical evidence on the employment mismatch of talents in New Zealand, I am guessing it must be widespread.

It was all that students at Unitec talked about when I spoke at a session there last week.

Discrimination by employers on immigrants was also a hot and emotionally charged topic discussed at a recent Human Rights migrant forum.

I have long been a firm believer that New Zealand stands for justice and equal opportunities for all, and that Kiwis are a fair-minded and racially tolerant lot. For that reason, I chose to be here.

But I must say that faith has been somewhat shaken.

Employers are not hiring qualified migrants for various reasons, chief among them - the lack of Kiwi experience.

I do sometimes wonder if the term is coined by xenophobic employers as a protectionist measure to ensure that jobs are kept only for New Zealanders.

Is this experience an excuse made up by the less self-assured New Zealanders uncomfortable about competition for jobs, or is it just a downright hostile way for employers to tell immigrants they are too foreign and that any qualification or work experience gained overseas is questionable?

If employment requirement is based on merit, the better-educated and more industrious immigrants as targeted by the New Zealand immigration policy should have no problems finding work. But with 13 per cent of working age Asians unemployed according to the last census, and a far greater number working in jobs way below their skill level, it is clear that this is not the case.

Denying someone the right to use their skills to earn a living is probably the worst kind of discrimination anyone can show a fellow human being.

No one wants to use the D word, but most will not deny that it exists. Some Chinese believe the discrimination is more about race than about being foreign.

A local-born Chinese told me his son was forced to look for work in Australia because having a Chinese name had made it difficult for him to get an interview with employers.

Another Chinese student, who graduated from Unitec with a communications degree, said he had sent out more than 60 CVs over the past two months but has not had a single response. During the same period, most of his classmates have found jobs.

He has taken courses in Maori and even done voluntary work at the Citizens Advice Bureau to get Kiwi experience. He too feels his Chinese surname is his biggest obstacle in getting that elusive job interview.

Recent letters to iBall - if it is to be seen as a window to what Pakeha thoughts on Asians are - show that some New Zealanders are still reticent about reaching out and are reluctant to accept anyone non-white.

One wrote: "The reality remains that a banana can never become a kiwi fruit. For us, this is home. For the yellow bananas, you will always be visitors at most, guests at our home."

In a speech a month ago, the Minister of Immigration David Cunliffe said: Migrants want good job opportunities, top salaries, business opportunities, a work-life balance. These are factors that put New Zealand in very good stead, in the competition for the best global talent.

Is this also just a delusion on the part of the Minister?

The skilled immigrants who have left everything to make Aotearoa their adopted homeland, to find that they are only good enough to drive taxis and serve burgers, will tell you claims that New Zealand offers good job opportunities are just a big fat lie.

Mr Cunliffe also said the focus of skilled immigration policy has been shifted from passive acceptance to active recruitment of the skills through boosting the skilled migrant category and lifting the quota.

New Zealand does not need more skilled immigrants to deliver newspapers.

If supermarket checkout operators and fast food cooks are the type of immigrants New Zealand wants - then it would be less painful for everyone if this was reflected in its immigration requirements in the first place.

Instead of focusing on getting more people here with promises of job and business opportunities, the minister should help to change the mindsets of employers.

An educational exercise, pitching the benefits of immigration to New Zealanders and the employment of skilled immigrants would be far more helpful. Immigration is a two-way thing, and the host community has a big part to play in the successful integration of immigrants.

For a start, the minister could help by correcting wrong perceptions and prejudices. For instance, contrary to the perception that immigrants take away jobs, New Zealanders should be made aware that more jobs have been created because of the investment dollars brought in by immigrants and the businesses they have started.

Many countries are actively seeking skilled migrants, including Canada and the United States, which organises lucky draws for its green cards, and even developing countries, like China, which offer scholarships to top foreign students.

Across the Tasman, a booming economy and a rapidly ageing population resulting in a severe shortage of workers, has also made Australia embark on a series of immigration and job recruitment roadshows.

These countries realise that labour shortage and a shortfall of experienced and qualified workers would threaten long-term economic growth, and seeking out skilled immigrants is the solution. Judging from the way skilled migrants are treated here, this is something New Zealand has still not woken up to.

Every other week, we read about strikes and unions demanding staff get higher wages but New Zealand cannot continue to remain selfishly self-absorbed about lifestyle choices, ignore global competition, and expect the economy to keep growing to pay for its wants.