# Demand for Building Trade Workers in Christchurch growing



## anski (Aug 17, 2008)

Great news for anyone considering a move to Christchurch, as the rebuilding gets under way & should be ongoing for a number of years to come there will be great demand for skilled people in all sectors of the construction industry.




> Forecast employment growth in Christchurch is being likened to Western Australia's mining boom.
> It comes as the city starts rebuilding with increasing demand for the likes of quantity surveyors, residential and commercial project managers.
> Statistics from Trade Me Jobs show jobs in Canterbury have risen 81 percent year on year, compared to just three and four percent in Wellington and Auckland.
> Hays Recruiting General Manager Jason Walker says Western Australia's mining boom could be mimicked here by the demand for construction jobs.
> ...


Chch job growth likened to Aus mining boom - Yahoo! Finance New Zealand


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## anski (Aug 17, 2008)

*Christchurch to build temp villages for reconstruction workers*

Are you planning on moving to Christchurch to aid in the reconstruction of this city?

Or are you already working on the re build? If so tell us your story.

Looks like Christchurch is going to require up to 20,000 workers to rebuild Christchurch & are planning 1,000 temporary houses just to house the workers required.

The full story can be read here

Temp villages for reconstruction workers - Yahoo! New Zealand News


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## dodgerodger (Jun 14, 2012)

I can almost see it now; rows of single wide mobile homes shipped from America's mobile home graveyards where they were tossed aside because they are falling apart; but at least they should have central air?

I was a tradesman in NZ so I know what crap wages to expect but I am not sure about the potential immigrants; I hope they do their research before moving to Christchurch.


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## anski (Aug 17, 2008)

dodgerodger said:


> I can almost see it now; rows of single wide mobile homes shipped from America's mobile home graveyards where they were tossed aside because they are falling apart; but at least they should have central air?
> 
> I was a tradesman in NZ so I know what crap wages to expect but I am not sure about the potential immigrants; I hope they do their research before moving to Christchurch.


Tradesmen earn pretty good money, at least the ones that I employ do. 

Now why do you think NZ will import America's cast offs? 

I take it NZ was not for you, hope you found a happier life back in USA.


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

dodgerodger said:


> I can almost see it now; rows of single wide mobile homes shipped from America's mobile home graveyards where they were tossed aside because they are falling apart; but at least they should have central air?
> 
> I was a tradesman in NZ so I know what crap wages to expect but I am not sure about the potential immigrants; I hope they do their research before moving to Christchurch.


I get the feeling you're a bit bitter, dodgerodger. 

Personally I think this is a great opportunity for Christchurch to build some great housing on a new city layout. And Christchurch people are really rallying together to make their city great again.

As has been noted, many old NZ houses are not well insulated - but new ones are. We've been very impressed with 'new build' houses. I think the Christchurch of the future, with new, insulated earthquake-proofed houses is going to be the place 'to be' :clap2:


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## Dani6 (Jun 13, 2012)

anski said:


> Great news for anyone considering a move to Christchurch, as the rebuilding gets under way & should be ongoing for a number of years to come there will be great demand for skilled people in all sectors of the construction industry.


This is very good news, it's great to see the demand for work growing at last.

Unfortunately this doesn't necessarily translate into more work for immigrants. 

The Christchurch office of the immigration department is declining more applications for work visas this year than it did last year, even though less people are applying. It would appear that they think there are more than enough Kiwis available to do the work and quite right too. It's good that they're insisting that they employ locals who've been doing it tough these last three years. Plus new people don't have NZ experience and have to be trained up to the current standards, whereas locals can hit the ground running. If they're not given work New Zealand will continue to lose its skilled workers to Australia.

This was in the local news earlier this week

"Immigration New Zealand's (INZ) Christchurch branch has received the lowest number of applications since 2003 as immigrants leave the earthquake-hit city. 

Despite this, people who want to stay in Christchurch are struggling to get work visas. 

INZ figures show that for the 2011-12 financial year, 9939 people applied for visas at the Christchurch office. In 2009-10, more than 13,500 applications were received. 

INZ has declined more work visas this financial year than last. 

The operations manager at migration law firm Malcolm Pacific, David Cooper, said unemployment across the country has led to an "increase in the amount of applications being declined". 

"Obviously, it's jobs for Kiwis first. That's how it has always been and when someone applies for a work visa, then [INZ] does its own labour market research," he said. 

This involved receiving information from Work and Income. 

"So if it's a retail job, Work and Income might turn around and say, 'We've got 15 people registered as unemployed in Canterbury who could do that work'," he said. 

Difficulties arose because often an "employer wants the best person for a job, not just a person", he said. 

Of 9939 applications received, 9153 have been approved and 786 have been declined so far. 

Figures show more people had applied for reconsideration of visa decisions since the earthquakes. 

On Saturday, The Press published a story about 29-year-old Briton Lance Burke, who was struggling to obtain a work visa because INZ said New Zealanders were available to do the work. 

His employer, Lawry Hanafin, of Hanafins Camera and Video, said the information supplied to INZ proved that other applicants for Burke's position were not suitable. 

Press readers said yesterday they disagreed with INZ rules. 

One said: "Immigration has been making it impossible for educated people to stay and with all the talent and young people moving off to Australia, what will NZ be left with if they don't ever let people in?" 

Another said: "Immigration need to look at Christchurch as a special case." 

Labour and Immigration Research Centre general manager Vasantha Krishnan said the criteria for obtaining a work visa had not changed. 

People qualified for visas on the basis of skill-shortage lists identified by the Labour Department, he said."

Sorry I can't post the link yet.


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## Dani6 (Jun 13, 2012)

dodgerodger said:


> I can almost see it now; rows of single wide mobile homes shipped from America's mobile home graveyards where they were tossed aside because they are falling apart; but at least they should have central air?
> 
> I was a tradesman in NZ so I know what crap wages to expect but I am not sure about the potential immigrants; I hope they do their research before moving to Christchurch.


Just after the earthquake there was an uproar because they wanted to ship in cheap buildings from China, eventually a Kiwi company got the work. 

I think wages are very dependent on demand, you may've done better if you were in Wellington or Auckland, there's not much going on in other parts of the country and people tend to prefer locals and ask for mates rates. It can be hard for a foreigner to break in, often they are undercut and frozen out. It can be tough to break through that.

Sorry it didn't work out for you.


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