With new entrants to workplace-based training down 16 percent in 2025 and construction apprentice numbers more than 30 percent below their 2022 peak, offshore recruitment is filling gaps that domestic training is not.
It comes with an obligation set that sits alongside ordinary employment law, and non-compliance affects your ability to recruit in future.
The employer accreditation framework
Employers wanting to hire migrant workers on the main work visa pathway generally need accreditation from Immigration New Zealand, followed by a job check for the specific role, before the worker applies for their visa.
Accreditation involves demonstrating the business is genuine, financially viable, and compliant with employment and immigration law. It is granted for a period and must be renewed.
The job check confirms the role is genuine, that terms and conditions meet requirements, and in many cases that you have tested the domestic labour market first.
Settings in this area change, so confirm current requirements with Immigration New Zealand rather than relying on what applied when you last recruited.
Migrant workers have identical employment rights
This is the point where employers most often create exposure, and exploitation cases attract sustained regulatory attention.
Migrant employees are entitled to the same minimum wage, holiday pay, sick leave, breaks, KiwiSaver and personal grievance rights as anyone else. Areas where problems concentrate:
- Deductions. Any deduction from wages requires specific written consent, must be reasonable, and must not take pay below the minimum wage. Accommodation and transport charges are where breaches most often occur.
- Hours. The minimum wage applies to each pay period. A salary that looks adequate annually can fall below minimum wage during a busy period, and accurate time records are a legal requirement.
- Premiums. Charging a worker for a job, or for arranging a visa, is unlawful.
- Any suggestion that visa status affects the ability to raise a concern. This is treated seriously and is the factor that turns an employment dispute into an exploitation case.
Immigration New Zealand and the Labour Inspectorate share information. An employment breach affects your immigration standing and vice versa.
The domestic recruitment expectation
Where the framework requires you to test the local labour market first, that is a genuine obligation rather than a formality. Document what you did — where you advertised, for how long, how many applicants, why they were unsuitable.
With unemployment at 5.6 percent in the June 2026 quarter, expect more scrutiny of whether a role genuinely could not be filled domestically. A general labour market softening does not produce qualified tradespeople, and being able to explain that distinction with evidence is worth having.
The RSE scheme is separate
For seasonal horticulture and viticulture work, the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme operates under its own framework with obligations well beyond ordinary employment law — guaranteed minimum hours, accommodation standards, pastoral care, contribution to travel and health insurance arrangements.
Monitoring has tightened, with unannounced site visits and more willingness to suspend employer status. Loss of RSE status is commercially severe for an operation built around it.
Retention is where offshore recruitment succeeds or fails
Recruiting internationally is expensive — accreditation, job check, relocation, and the time to productivity. Losing that person after eighteen months wastes all of it.
What retains migrant workers is largely what retains anyone: progression, decent management, realistic workload, and being treated as a colleague rather than a temporary resource. Practical additions that matter:
- Help with the practical business of arriving — banking, housing, schools, healthcare enrolment.
- Clarity about the visa pathway and what the business will support.
- Recognising that qualifications and experience gained overseas are real, and not defaulting to entry-level placement.
Growing your own alongside
Offshore recruitment fills an immediate gap. It does not fix a pipeline.
Businesses that combine both — recruiting for immediate capability while training for the medium term — are in a considerably better position in four years than those relying on either alone.
Immigration New Zealand publishes accreditation and job check requirements at immigration.govt.nz, Employment New Zealand publishes guidance on deductions, wages and records, and Education Counts publishes training pipeline data under an open licence.
Figures: Education Counts workplace-based learner data, 2025; Stats NZ labour market statistics, June 2026 quarter. Immigration settings change — confirm current requirements with Immigration New Zealand. General information only.
