The Recognized Seasonal Employer, or RSE, scheme was launched in April last year and allows up to 5,000 seasonal workers to be employed each year to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops here.
The goal was to solve a labor shortage in New Zealand and help the development of Pacific Island nations because workers send money home and gain work experience.
A survey of 450 households in Tonga and Vanuatu by John Gibson and Halahingano Rohorua of Waikato Management School and David McKenzie of the World Bank has found the program has succeeded in reaching poorer, less well-educated migrants from Tonga.
“While our research in Vanuatu shows no substantial difference in wealth between RSE migrants and other groups, in both Tonga and Vanuatu males with lower levels of education are more likely to apply for RSE than are those with more education. And that’s good news for the potential ability of the initiative to improve development outcomes in the Pacific,” Professor Gibson said.
RSE attracts Tongans who are significantly poorer, less likely to be in current employment and have lower schooling than those likely to apply for other migration options, said Dr. McKenzie.
However, he said there were barriers to participating in RSE and the scheme required substantial effort by those involved.
High airfares were a problem and some employers pay half and offer finance to cover the other half. It costs about $1,012 to get to New Zealand from Vanuatu, which is a lot of money for people whose average monthly household expenditure per person is only $92.
Workers in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands also face high transport costs that can limit participation in the scheme.
Research is continuing into how well the scheme works and into what wealth effects it has in Pacific island nations.
