Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad banner
Cancel

Aussies moving jobs to NZ

1534 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Song_Si, 
A
Jobs are moving from Australia to New Zealand.
Aussie manufacturers struggling to compete domestically because of the the strong Australian dollar and high labour cost, are shifting operations to New Zealand.
Business correspondent Roger Kerr says manufacturing companies in Australia have lost their price competitiveness .
"Supermarket giant Woolworths is shifting 40 contact centre jobs from Aussie back to Auckland. The Imperial Tobacco company is moving cigarette manufacturing from Sydney to Auckland."
Food manufacturer Heinz Australia has also closed three small plants in Australia to centralise production in Hastings.
But our low wages, low dollar and less militant labour laws aren't the only reason behind Australian manufacturers shifting here.
The Mayor of Hastings, whose region has benefited from shifts by big food producers Heinz and McCains, says our Kiwi attitude has a lot to do with it too.
Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule says Hawke's Bay has traditional strength in food production, and now has a highly automated and efficient series of plants.
"We have what we consider a more relaxed and flexible labour market which allows everything to be put together in a very competitive way."
Lawrence Yule says it's not about cheap labour.
Click to expand...
Aussies moving jobs to NZ - Yahoo! Finance New Zealand

Good news for people who live in these areas.
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 2 of 3 Posts
S
low wages, low dollar and less militant labour laws aren't the only reason
Click to expand...
to which I would say, 'yeah right'. 'relaxed and flexible labour market' reads as abundance of unemployed/low skill workers who'll accept minimum rate pay while continuing to recive NZ Govt financial aid to bring it up to a minimal living standard. Refer to Poverty our biggest growth industry - academic from yesterday's news. Sad reading.

While the people who get a job may be happy, the govt and papers continue on a bout generating a 'knowledge economy' and importing minimum pay/low skill jobs hardly seems a step in this direction.

As for cigarette manufacturing, what next, nuclear waste disposal? What a backwards step that is.

Here (Thailand) the minimum daily rate has increased to 300 baht (NZ$12) per day, resulting in some companies moving to Cambodia and Indonesia for 'low wages, better exchange rates and less (no?) labour laws'.

Seems to be natural progression as they work their way down the chain - remember when things from Japan were considered cheap/junk? Then it was Taiwan, Korea, China, and so on. NZ becomes Australia's budget workshop, and the companies will get tax concessions for generously bringing their employment to NZ.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
S
and while low-skill jobs may shift east across the Tasman, still demand for skilled workers in Australia.
As a side-note, the tax cuts in Oz are staggering - the threshold up to A$18,200.

Oz boosts efforts to get more Kiwis

Friday May 11, 2012

Major Australian companies are headhunting Kiwis at a time when Canberra is fattening citizens' wallets with tax cuts and school benefits.

Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies, has taken out big advertisements here calling for more engineers, tradespeople, project managers and specialists as it expands iron ore production from 225 million tonnes a year to 353 million by 2015.

The moves have prompted fears that the numbers of New Zealanders crossing the Tasman will increase from already record levels.

Australia has become more attractive after its government announced millions would benefit from tax breaks, Labour leader David Shearer said.

*****

Described by Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan as a Budget for the "battlers", it promises that up to one million people will be freed from paying tax after the tax-free threshold is trebled from A$6000 to A$18,200.

More than seven million earning less than A$80,000 ($102,000) will receive tax cuts and parents with children at school will be given a bonus where they will be paid A$410 for each primary school pupil and A$820 for each secondary student.

***

Oz Jobs Expo is holding its third expo in 18 months in Auckland this weekend at the SkyCity Convention Centre. Director Jason Clayton said more jobs were available across nearly every conceivable field than could be filled.

full article
Click to expand...
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 2 of 3 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad
A forum community dedicated to expatriates and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about residency, taxes, documents, visas, travel, health care, finances, banking, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Australia Expat Forum for Expats Living in AU Britain Expat Forum for Expats Living in the UK Spain Expat Forum for Expats Living in Spain Dubai Expat Forum for Expats Living in Dubai France Expat Forum for Expats Living in France
Top