A quicker process for bringing in critical workers is needed, according to a group of leading chief executives. Uncertain immigration settings are putting New Zealand jobs at risk, a lobby group for large New Zealand companies says.

Around 60 chief executives of major companies have signed a report put together by Business New Zealand’s Major Companies Group, which calls for a new post- Covid game plan for business.

It urges whoever takes office after the election to focus on four key areas which it believes will give New Zealand its best chance of recovery: infrastructure, jobs, the economy and border management.

Recommendations include shifting from a ''closed'' to a risk management approach at the border, and a speedier process to bring in critical workers.

The uncertainty these workers were facing was ‘’putting other New Zealand jobs at risk, particularly within our industrial base,'’ the group said. It also called for setting a timeframe for reviving tourism, and using the private sector for testing, tracing and user- pays quarantine and isolation services.

Business New Zealand chief executive Kirk Hope said members of its CEO Forum were asked in a range of Zoom calls in July to bring their five best ideas, and the result was ‘’remarkably consistent’’.

’It was a reflection of how CEOs were feeling after coming out of lockdown, and some of the challenges and opportunities that they were seeing. So I think those things haven’t changed.

’They want to see more pace and scale and aspiration, I think, in government decision making and that will help drive private sector decision making and investment choices.’’

Business NZ’s Kirk Hope says the feeling among chief executives was ‘’remarkably consistent’’. cameron burnell/Stuff

On immigration, the chief executives wanted for simpler, clearer rules, including the return of people on skilled visas with jobs here with a pathway to residency.

They wanted critical workers to be exempt from the three-year stand-down rule once current visa extensions expired, and visa-holders already in New Zealand to be allowed to change company, role and location.

Labour market tests, which immigration officials use to decide whether a worker can be replaced with a New Zealander, should be replaced by advice from industry associations and major companies, the group said.

Regarding infrastructure, Hope said there had been some progress since lockdown, particularly around the Resource Management Act for ‘’shovel-ready projects’’ and raised debt caps for local government.

But there was a lot more to do.

The report calls for greater clarity around New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline of work, and more partnerships to bring in a broader range of capital.

Suggestions include incentives for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, such as tax breaks for maintenance.

Source: Stuff