Lincoln Tan: Denying immigrants work will destroy NZ bit by bit

Two weeks ago, I wrote about barriers skilled immigrants faced when finding employment here.

Prompted by stories in the Aucklander, I questioned employers who used the excuse of lack of Kiwi experience to bar immigrants from getting work in their fields of expertise. The headline put it more bluntly: Good job opportunities for immigrants just a big fat lie.

Since then, I have received a deluge of emails and phone messages on the topic.

Most were sad, personal stories about discrimination by New Zealand employers and others were to express shock about what was happening. But there were many by those who would not or could not accept the points I'd made.

A few asked me to write about positive experiences and about migrants doing better here professionally than in their home countries. I will be more than happy to tell their stories - if I can find them.

After speaking with a few readers and meeting one who drove all the way from Tauranga, I think there is a need to make a second attempt to address this issue.

Those who disagreed with me had three main strands to their arguments:

* The inability of skilled migrants to get work is their problem, and not a New Zealand problem.

* Jobs should be made available first to New Zealand-born Kiwis, and immigrants - no matter how skilled - should just wait in line.

* It was bad for inter-cultural harmony for me to be writing about these prejudices.

I cannot accept any of these arguments and find most totally irrational.

New Zealand is facing its worst skills shortage in 30 years. With more Kiwis then ever leaving our shores and an increasing greying population, skilled migrants are supposed to help solve some of this country's problems.

Reader Katie Jackson, who said I was "Kiwi Pakeha bashing", wrote: "If migrants are not happy being in New Zealand and cannot get a job here, then by all means, go home."

Some with mobile professional skills and financial means have gone home. Sadly, many more will. Last week, I met three - a human resource manager, an aircraft engineer and a lecturer - in the days before they quit New Zealand.

They had been here between three and five years, and had not been able to find work related to their professions.

But there are many others who have little choice but to stay on, and their inability to find work will be a huge financial and social strain on our society.

One reader shared with me his strong desire to move back to his home country, but he had spent too much money moving to New Zealand and lost most of it in a business he started here.

After a year, he still has not been able to find full-time work and has depleted all his savings.

Instead of contributing to the economy by paying taxes, he is now part of a growing pool of unemployed and underemployed immigrants who depend on the benefit as they continue to be denied jobs by employers who seem to be reserving them for New Zealanders.

Another reader, Dennis from Dargaville, argued jobs in New Zealand should be kept for local-born Kiwis.

"Our forefathers have put their blood, sweat and tears on this soil," he said. "Immigrants, no matter how skilled, should just wait in line."

I don't buy his reasoning. In this global economy, the thought of reserving jobs based on birth certificates rather than on merit cannot and will not work.

If New Zealand does not have the skill base to offer the best, then jobs will just move overseas, resulting in more losses for New Zealanders.

Last week, Mobil's decision to move its customer service centre overseas resulted in 140 job losses, and announcements last month by Air New Zealand to outsource its finance division could see 100 jobs disappear.

No longer is it just assembly-line and sweatshop jobs moving to places like China and India. Now jobs for accountants, financial analysts and software designers are moving overseas.

Many American companies are using Indian accountants to do tax returns and some hospitals are also using Indian radiologists based in Bangalore to analyse CT scans and X-rays at less than half the American cost.

A Massey University report last week confirmed findings of employers' prejudices against new immigrants.

The report, Being Accepted, said employers put little recognition on overseas qualifications, made demands for local work experience, considered immigrants as outsiders and had issues with their languages and accents.

It found that these prejudices were feeding the country's skills shortage.

How many more wake-up calls must New Zealand have before it wakes up?

It is easy to point the finger at immigrants, to say they don't match up - but what about employers?

Co-author of the Massey University report, Paul Spoonley, said: "If we don't fill those skills with immigrants, how are we going to fill them? We can ask immigrants to adjust to New Zealand, but what about gatekeepers adjusting to immigrants?"

By denying work to the very people brought in to help with New Zealand's economy, these employers are destroying this country bit by bit.

New Zealand employers must overcome their prejudices so that immigrants can play their role, pay their taxes, and help with the already heavy financial burden faced by taxpayers.

One reader said I should not write about migrant discrimination because it was not good for racial harmony.

Mr K. Zhu wrote: "Please stop spreading lies in the Herald about migrants facing discrimination when looking for work here. It is no good for harmony. We Chinese people from China never face discrimination."

His claim is news to me. But it is my firm belief that no problem gets solved unless we talk about it, and burying one's head in the sand will not achieve anything.

To those who think that talking about this could result in a loss of face, I say it is better to talk and lose face than not talk and lose everything.