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Christchurch has been rocked by two major earthquakes, one in September 2010 and the other in February 2011. Whilst this has caused severe short term disruption, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key believed in the long-term more people would come to live in the city than before the earthquake, as they were attracted by a construction boom. Please see his quotes below:
“Economic activity here is going to be enormous. Basically you are spending $25m over a five year period, that’s the equivalent of the entire construction industry around New Zealand every year for five years. It’s going to be phenomenal”
“I think you are going to see a lot more people trained. I think you will see internal migration. Look at something like EQC, they’ve gone from having 29 people to something like 1500; that is a growth business. Internationally people would also be attracted to work opportunities coming from the re-build. After 10 years of re-build, do you really think they are going to pack up and leave? Not a dog’s show”
The $5.5bn Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Fund recently announced proved the Government’s commitment to the re-build. Quality tradesmen across all sectors and construction professionals will be needed to complete the rebuild of Christchurch and the lack of investment in staff development via apprenticeships has left New Zealand exposed as a consequence.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) is agency specifically established by the Government to lead and coordinate the on-going recovery effort following the devastating earthquakes. CERA is working with a group of construction companies have also been identified to rebuild the Christchurch city infrastructure damaged by these earthquakes and is looking at more than $30 billion of work over the next five to ten years.
But the building industry is worried there will not be enough skilled people to meet the needs of the $30 billion reconstruction programme. Construction industry training organisations have told the Tertiary Education Commission that New Zealand's total of building trades workers needs to double - from 77,740 now to 155,400 - over the next five years to cope with rebuilding Christchurch, the national leaky home crisis and general economic recovery.
“We are going to have a significant shortage of skilled labour”, said Ruma Karaitiana of the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation.
Warwick Quinn of the Master Builders Federation said: “There is no doubt we are going to need external immigration support, and it's not just in the trade areas, it's also in the professional areas such as engineering, geotechnical engineering, architecture, design and supervision.”
The Canterbury Employment and Skills Board, set up after the quakes to co-ordinate the training and recruitment effort, has begun a campaign to lure people from the rest of New Zealand to help fill the gap. Board chairman Carl Davidson said people were realising that rebuilding Christchurch could take as long as 15 years because there would not be enough workers to do it any more quickly.
Search and Select Program – United Kingdom and Ireland
Migration Associates is working with Enterprise Recruitment in a “Search & Select” program in the UK and Ireland to assist with the sourcing and visa processing of the necessary staff to meet this short fall in Christchurch. Enterprise Recruitment in a has strong working relationships with the five key contractors appointed recently to oversee the Christchurch rebuild process and has the necessary presence, profile and leverage to meet this increasing demand. Migration Associates is also working with Enterprise Recruitment with lobbying both local and central government agencies to try pre-empt staff shortages and ensure that there are viable ways to recruit from overseas.
Visa Eligibility Required
Given the nature of Enterprise Recruitment’s relationships with the five construction companies mentioned above, Enterprise are looking to only consider applicants who are serious about emigrating to Christchurch and therefore Enterprise Recruitment requires all candidates to obtain a visa eligibility evaluation from Migration Associates. We can assist you with a free New Zealand visa evaluation. If you are interested, please complete the free online visa evaluation questionnaire form below.
We will also obtain an appraisal of your job opportunities in Christchurch, therefore please make sure you upload your CV.
Jobs Available
The need for quality experienced tradesmen across all trades, along with construction professionals in all disciplines will only get worse as the rebuild commences and gathers momentum. There are not enough staff already, with one client having agreed to one hundred trade qualified carpenters if Enterprise Recruitment can source them. Please find below a list of positions that will be required to assist with the Christchurch rebuild:
Construction Professionals:
- Project Management – Roading and Infrastructure/Building - Commercial/Residential
- Engineers – Civil Engineers
- Civil Engineering Technicians
- Designers/Architects
- Architectural Builders
- Draughtsmen
- Urban and Regional Town Planners
- Quantity Surveyors
- Surveyors
- Building Surveyors (Building Inspectors)
- Construction Project Mangers (Site Managers)
Construction Trades:
- Carpenters
- Joiners
- General Builders – residential and commercial
- Electricians (registration required – assistance provided)
- Plumbers registration (registration required – assistance provided)
- Gasfitters (registration required – assistance provided)
- Drainlayers (registration required – assistance provided)
- Plasterers
- Painter Decorators
- Flooring and carpet layers
- Brick/block layers
- Welders/Fabricators
- Roofers
*Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and is merely indicative, other occupations may also be in demand.
Immigration New Zealand’s temporary Canterbury Skill Shortage List (CSSL) identifies those occupations in demand for the Canterbury rebuild, and will facilitate temporary work visas for applicants whose skills are listed on the CSSL. It is expected that the list will change during different phases of the rebuild
Enterprise Recruitment want experienced and qualified people and those who can apply for a visa and therefore it is important that you obtain a New Zealand Visa Evaluation from us as soon as possible.
Useful Articles/Information
We have attached some useful articles for your perusal. Please also visit the links below:
New Zealand Herald
TVNZ - Video
TVNZ - Article
You are invited to complete the electronic form below, which will allow us to evaluate your eligibility to qualify for a New Zealand Visa. Please answer all of the questions provided.
This is a no obligations FREE ONLINE VISA EVALUATION and we will ensure that the information you have provided us remains confidential. If your evaluation is positive, you will be contacted by one of our Migration Associates in the next two working days.
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