Chief Executive’s Message

Work, workplaces and people are at the centre of the Department’s roles and responsibilities. These roles and responsibilities span four Votes: Labour, Immigration, Employment, and ACC. Through its advice and services the Department aims to ensure people thrive through work, bring the best people to New Zealand and ensure workplaces are safe and fair.

Work is central to most people’s lives, providing income, social connection, and a sense of purpose. Most New Zealanders enjoy their jobs and have a good quality of life. Our migrant flows are some of the highest among developed countries and about one in four people in the New Zealand labour force was born overseas.

A well-functioning labour market is the heart of a thriving economy. The skills and capabilities of the workforce need to match employers’ needs and the whole workforce needs to be able to adapt and respond as opportunities change. Many factors both within and beyond the Department’s core roles interact to influence and determine the labour market’s performance. These factors relate to macroeconomic and fiscal settings, the welfare system, immigration, employment and health and safety and the education and training system.

Over the last couple of years New Zealand has been buffeted by unexpected challenges: the global recession; the Canterbury earthquakes; and, the Pike River Coal Mine tragedy. These challenges have had significant impacts for the labour market and the operations of the Department. Important priorities in the immediate future are to support the Canterbury rebuild and respond comprehensively to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River Coal Mine tragedy.

The most pressing longer-term economic challenge for New Zealand is to lift its productivity while maintaining high levels of labour force participation. As the population ages, New Zealand’s labour force will grow slowly. This means that compared with previous years, economic growth over the medium term will depend on each working person producing more, rather than simply more people working. Immigration will help, but it is only a part of the solution. This slowing in labour force growth has significant implications for policy settings in the skills, immigration, and labour market sectors.

Across government, agencies are responding to ministers’ need for integrated and coherent advice that recognises the policy linkages across agencies and sectors. In the skills area, for example, the best allocation of the Government’s investment in learning across the life cycle – from early childhood to old age – requires a cross-sector, cross-agency approach. The Department’s experience and span of its operations, which range across skills, immigration, and workplace practices, means the Department is well positioned to lead this more ‘joined up’ policy process.

The Department is also a frontline agency delivering a wide variety of services to the public. Over a year the Department makes decisions on over 500,000 visa applications, conducts around 9,500 assessments to promote good workplace health and safety practices, and completes around 5,500 employment mediations. Other sectors of the economy also rely on the Department’s services. The Department’s visa processing services for students and tourists support two of New Zealand’s largest export earning industries – education and tourism.

The Department has regrouped its functions and is now positioned to create an organisation that is ‘fit for the future’, providing quality services at sustainable cost. Technology will be the key enabler to the changing face of the Department and how it delivers its variety of services. The Immigration Group has significantly improved its core services. Further improvements will deliver faster, more accurate services at lower cost as the new Immigration Global Management System is developed and put in place. Completion of the Labour Group’s restructuring will deliver targeted, higher-quality health and safety and employment relations services at a reduced cost. The Department also has a financial strategy to address cost pressures.

As departing Chief Executive I am confident about the future of the Department and the services it provides ministers, New Zealanders, international visitors and new migrants, businesses and industry. The high quality, agility, and talents of the Department’s Executive Leadership Team provide a strong foundation for the achievement of future priorities.

Christopher Blake
Chief Executive Department of Labour

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