Photo: ODT filesThe government is letting more migrant workers into the country to help with the labour shortage gripping the primary sector. "We've also altered the existing class border exception for 200 dairy workers to remove the previous split of 150 assistant dairy farm managers and 50 dairy farm assistants. There's huge demand for dairy farm assistants, so we're providing more flexibility for our dairy sector to fill jobs up to the maximum of 200 where they see the strongest need. "I know there are still labour challenges across the sector and we will continue working with the sector to meet them where possible," O'Connor said. "Taking into account our most recent decisions, the primary sector has received more than 5100 class exceptions since June 2020 - making it close to healthcare for the most industry exceptions.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 12, 2021 03:19 UTC