Why Asians matter to New Zealand employers

Asians are a growing part of New Zealand’s population, which will make them a critical element of New Zealand’s workforce over the next two decades, argues a recently released Department of Labour (DoL) report.

The findings cited Statistics New Zealand figures which show that the Asian working population is on track to equal the Maori workforce by 2026. It is projected to make up 15% of the total New Zealand workforce, compared to 14% for Maori.

In addition to being a youthful workforce (with over half aged 15-34), Asians are also a highly qualified segment of the workforce – two considerations which DoL recommends employers should not overlook, in a global era of ageing working populations.

The research also demonstrates that the Asian workforce is not homogeneous and different employment sectors employ larger numbers of certain ethnicities. While the housekeeping, restaurant and IT sectors employ larger percentages of North Asians (particularly from China and Korea), the health and sales sectors register a larger representation of South Asians. As for the Southeast Asians in the workforce, they tend to be employed in great numbers in nursing and midwifery (at a rate which is double the national average).

An analysis of the types of employment in relation to the employees’ reported qualifications has led the authors to conclude that Asian employees may be overqualified for the positions they were in – for instance, Asians with a bachelor’s degree were three times more likely to be working as clerks than the national average.

Employers need to be flexible and better understand the characteristics of this diverse pool of workers if they are to make the most of the impending socio-demographic change, the report recommends. Importantly for recruiters, an increasing proportion of the Asian workforce will be New Zealand-born, and educated and trained in New Zealand. Added to their fluency in English and diversity awareness, their personal links and contacts with Asia will also be of benefit to Kiwi employers.

The report entitled The Asian workforce: A critical part of New Zealand’s current and future labour market was written by Juthika Badkar and Carmel Tuya of the Department of Labour. Advisers to the report were Richard Bedford, Waikato University; Paul Callister, Victoria University; Robert Didham, Statistics New Zealand and Andrew Butcher, Asia New Zealand Foundation.

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Last updated: 02 November 2010