Migrants continue to face barriers to employment – and only 11 percent of organisations have formal programmes to help integrate the newcomers into their workforce.
Those findings emerge from survey of 1705 employers carried out by recruitment specialist Hudson, which shows New Zealand organisations are still grappling with how to address the skills shortage effectively, says Hudson general manager Peter Harbidge.
“The situation is challenging not only for employers but for people who wish to enter the workforce.”
He says the survey’s main finding is that employers do not consider the local workforce to be easily accessible to migrants – 77 percent of respondents believe they face barriers.
However both anecdotal feedback and formal Department of Labour study suggest organisations benefit from having more diverse workforce, says Harbidge.
“The message from employers beginning to understand how to integrate migrants into their workforce is that it requires change of attitude. They are telling us that solving the problem requires acceptance that there will be differences in the way people do things – what you have to do is recognise those differences and find ways of working with them.”
More information at www.hudson.com
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