Opinion: Global competition for skills and investment has never been more fierce. Over the holiday break I was reflecting on what more can be done to step up New Zealand’s efforts to compete for workers in the midst of a global labour shortage.

There’s no silver bullet, but there are a few straightforward options for policy makers and regulators to consider, as businesses right across New Zealand cry out for more workers.

Not only do we need to tilt our settings to improve our performance in the contest for talent and investment we’re facing today, but also we should be harnessing New Zealand’s spirit of innovation for the future. Devising and delivering a connected immigration strategy that considers the long-term needs of the labour market alongside our broader capacity to take in and settle new migrant workers.

We also need to address the increasing mobility of talent as the countries we compete with become more ambitious and targeted in their approach, offering innovative new pathways for immigration.

As New Zealand’s largest business bank, BNZ has a unique observation point and what we’re hearing from our business customers is that the current immigration settings are too reactive and don’t sufficiently address their labour constraints.

READ MORE:
*?Truck driver shortage shaking up the industry
*?What next for our immigration settings

Many countries have a big-picture lens on their strategies, targeting talent pools for their growth sectors. They are taking a system-wide approach, applying sector filters in areas such as technology industries, sciences and health. An increasing number of countries are also launching visas that are multi-optioned and provide greater flexibility, including relaxing postgraduate work rights for those with specific qualifications.

Here are five examples of what New Zealand is up against:

* Australia’s streamlined Global Talent Visa is a pathway for highly skilled applicants within 10 future-focused sectors. The conditions of this visa provide certainty of residency. Australia is also extending work rights for postgraduate students with specific skills, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology.

*?Canada’s long-term strategy will see it accept 1.45 million new permanent residents by 2025, and the gates are open. The federal government wants to help high-growth companies bring in the workers they need quickly, cutting processing times from six months to just 10 business days. A key element of the global talent stream is that registered employers will need to commit to creating jobs for Canadians and transferring knowledge to Canadian workers, under a Labour Market Benefits Plan.

*?The UK’s Global Talent Visa enables the best tech talent from around the world to work in the UK’s digital tech sector. What sets it apart is that the visa is attached to the applicant, meaning visa holders are not tied to a particular role or company and are free to change roles in the tech sector on their own terms. They also do not need a job offer?to apply.

*?The UK-India Young Professionals Scheme will launch early this year, offering 3,000 places for degree-holding Indian nationals aged 18 to 30 to live and work in the UK for up to two years. This is seen as a wider commitment to forging stronger links with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both economies.

*?Singapore’s Global Investor Programme offers permanent resident status to eligible global investors who intend to drive their businesses and investment growth from Singapore. While this is not a talent visa scheme, it is an example of a qualitative approach targeting specific, high-value migrants. Business owners, next generation business owners, founders of fast-growth companies and family office principles are all clearly articulated targets. Furthermore, once accepted, a wraparound service is in place to support settlement. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has established a Family Office Development Team to engage with and enhance the operating environment for family offices.

I see a real opportunity for us to reignite our innovative thinking, learn from the global marketplace and develop our own unique strategies.

When New Zealand launched the Global Impact Visa pilot in 2016, it was recognised that New Zealand was in a global race for talent. There was much to be gained by creating pathways that bridged our economy into international innovation hubs and capital pools. This was a strategic partnership between the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and Immigration New Zealand to attract world-changing innovators, entrepreneurs and investors. The programme was clever in its design as it appealed to people who may be outliers for other visa schemes. It is also an example of how a collaborative approach between the public and the private sector can deliver unique, effective, and differentiated immigration policy.??

Imagine what we could accomplish if the public and private sectors came together this year to creatively explore the possibilities for innovation in immigration and how we might enhance our country’s prosperity. The business community is looking to the government to initiate and lead this kind of collaboration.

New Zealand could also think about leveraging trade agreements and closer economic partnerships to support our immigration objectives. The emphasis with trade agreements has been ＆trade’?rather than the mobility of people. However, a liberalisation of our thinking when it comes to trade could better facilitate access to talent.

Nigel Bickle, a former deputy chief executive of Immigration New Zealand, said, ※the mission of Immigration New Zealand is really simple, and that is to go and get the best people that New Zealand needs to prosper§.?I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment. We all have a stake in this, we’re nimble and resourceful enough to move quickly, and it’s not too late to take a competing position. Together we could leverage our two degrees of separation and our number eight wire mentality. Now there’s a couple of competitive advantages worth exploring.

BNZ is a partner of Newsroom