Research shows value of skilled migrants

New research by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment shows that skilled migrants are generally settling well into the New Zealand labour market.

Analysis by the Ministry of all 12,513 skilled migrants who took up residence in New Zealand between November 2004 and October 2005 finds that they have higher income three years after taking up residence in New Zealand than migrants without skilled employment. In addition, migrants with a job offer at the time of residence approval are more likely to be employed three years after taking up residence in New Zealand than migrants without a job offer.

The report, Labour Market Integration and Retention of Skilled Migrants in New Zealand, also found that skilled migrants with a post-school qualification at the time of their residence approval have higher incomes compared with skilled migrants with no post-school qualification.

Although it had no impact on their employment prospects or income the survey also found that having family support in New Zealand was more likely to result in skilled migrants settling here permanently.

The results in this study are consistent with previous research and highlight the fact that skilled migrants generally settle well into the New Zealand labour market.
The research follows new figures released this week in the annual Migration Trends and Outlook report which shows the number of Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) residence approvals in the 2014/15 financial year increased by four per cent on the previous year to 21,165.

The Labour Market Integration and Retention of Skilled Migrants in New Zealand report is available here .

The Migration Trends and Outlook 2014/15 report is available here.

ENDS

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