Employment

New Zealand welcomes people wanting to work and live in New Zealand. People from overseas broaden New Zealand's global skills and knowledge, and help build connections with the rest of the world. New immigrants bring the skills New Zealand needs to increase it's capability as a workforce.

As a country New Zealand has moved away from a reliance on farming as a major industry and employer, and diversified into manufacturing and exporting. This has seen a demand for professionals across a broad range of industries.

Exports are important to New Zealand's economy. The strength of its economy over recent years has highlighted a growing skill base shortage in the New Zealand labour market. The labour market continues to record strong growth.

Unemployment is extremely low in New Zealand and currently it is sitting at around 4.4% which is the lowest it has been in 16 years.

New Zealand is particularly short of healthcare workers, IT specialists, engineers, accountants and tradespeople.