“There will be some happy people here in Te Anau. We have all been waiting for this news,” Kremer said. Te Anau and Fiordland have been the Southland regions arguably hardest hit by the pandemic and international border closures. “People have been hanging on, just waiting and waiting,” Kremer said. While thousands of tourists would go through Te Anau daily at peak season, that had fallen-off since borders were closed. Businesses had closed in the past 12 months, and the surviving ones had that time to adjust to how they could operate in the future, Kremer said. Otago Southland Employers’ Association chief executive Virginia Nicholls said having a clear timeline allowed Otago and Southland businesses to plan their next steps.
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The trust is one of the largest employers of minimum wage-workers in Invercargill with 650 employees across pay grades. While Ramsay knew the increase was coming and had prepared in advance, he could not deny the pressure it put on businesses like his. Theoretically, the trust s wage bill increased by $600,000 for every dollar increase it gave staff, he said. ILT businesses had already cut the costs it could have in other areas, Ramsay said. Te Anau Top 10 Holiday Park owner Brad Molloy is facing a similar challenge. The business has already gone through a round of redundancies in 2020 after border closures impacted visitor numbers.
There was also a trickle, not a flood, of tourism workers going into agriculture, Hunt said. Ardlussa arables farmer Chris Dillon said he would need contractors for harvesting in the coming weeks and then replanting after that. “You don t want your own equipment sitting idle,” he said. Dillon had a pilot doing seasonal work on his farm last year, but there were fewer kiwis available to fill those gaps this year, he said. He is the Southland Federated Farmers arable chairman. Flow on effects of the worker shortage meant farmers could have to consider selling equipment, he said. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said “given the risks in the world around us and uncertainty about the global roll-out of the vaccine, we can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this year.”
Among those facing challenges were engineering companies and food companies. Ceri Macleod, general manager of Sorec, a professional body representing the manufacturing engineering sector across the southern region, said a number of its members had reported delays in receiving goods from overseas. “This puts additional pressure on the manufacturing engineering sector, particularly in the southern region,” she said. “Delays can have a significant impact on production and ability to fulfil orders on time.” Some of the issues could be addressed by pulling together as a network, but it placed extra pressure on its members and their businesses. Gareth Lyness, sales and supply chain manager of Blue River Dairy, an Invercargill business that exports infant formula from sheep, goat and cow milk, said the company sourced most of its ingredients and packaging from New Zealand.