Migrant's job struggle highlights Kiwi assumptions
Monday, 4 February 2019
A skilled migrant from Singapore applied for over a hundred jobs in New Zealand only to have the door softly closed in his face.
His experience and newly published research paints a picture of an Aotearoa woefully misinformed about some of our closest neighbours.
On paper Ganga Sudhan seems a model employee.
The 42-year-old living in South Auckland has a career as a decorated police sergeant, senior lecturer, managing editor, and is also published author. He also has a number of tertiary qualifications that includes a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters degree in education.
There's just one problem - he's from Singapore.
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When he arrived in New Zealand in February 2016, Sudhan spent 18 months looking for middle-management positions that match his level of qualifications.
But after applying for over a 100 roles, he hit a dead end, with only two interviews and no job offers.
He suspects a lack of kiwi knowledge about Asia and the differences between its various countries presents a barrier to skilled migrants like himself.
'Often times what you have from Asia, is workers coming [to New Zealand] from an economy of a lesser strength.'
'The work requirements are not the same in those sorts of societies.'
He believes that many employers often confuse a well developed nation like Singapore, with less developed nations like Vietnam or Cambodia.
'But what you have when you have a person coming in from Singapore, it is akin to someone coming in from the UK.'
'But it's not that I believe I can do the role or grow into it, I've already done it.'
Massey University sociologist and immigration advisor Professor Paul Spoonley says that Suhan's concerns aren't just speculation.
He says employers often rely on a migrant workforce, but tend to look towards countries like Britain or South Africa for skilled white collar roles and view migrants from Southeast-Asain countries as suitable only for unskilled for semi-skilled work.
'Employers often tend to classify, there's a bit of a hierarchy.'
'In my experience Singapore doesn't sit comfortably anywhere in that hierarchy.'
'We also encounter accent or surname discrimination, and that does apply to Singaporeans, so they tend to be, by some at least, grouped to other parts of Asia that doesn't necessarily acknowledge Singapore's advanced economic status.'
He points to a 2018 report by the Asia New Zealand Foundation that found that shows the average Kiwi lacks basic knowledge about Asia.
When 2000 participants where questioned about their thoughts and understanding of the region eight in 10 New Zealanders thought Asia was important to our economic future, but when asked six general knowledge questions about the region, only 13 percent provided at least four correct answers.
He says this lack of knowledge has damaging effects on the economy. Research in Canada has shown that each year the country loses $2.1 billion in productivity due to placing migrants in roles they are overqualified to perform.
And although no similar study has been done at home, Professor Spoonley says it is safe to assume the problem has led to a significant loss to the New Zealand economy.
'It is also worth noting that it will take a migrant with the same qualifications on average 12 years to match someone [in New Zealand] in income and in occupational standing.'
Sudhan was eventually able to secure a position as tutor at a private training establishment in September 2017 partly due to connections with a friend. In six months he was promoted to head of department for their Auckland, Napier and Wellington campuses.
But due to government funding cuts he was made redundant in December.