It came as quite a surprising news- when New Zealand is trying to brand itself as culinary destination, the country’s hospitality entity, Hospitality Association of New Zealand, commonly known as Hanz is struggling to find skilled chefs to be fitted for the vacancies in the industry. The association is furious about the immigration department’s passivity in reviewing the policy which determines the issuance of work permits to those engaged in culinary industry, precisely chefs.

Of late, restaurants across New Zealand are encountering shortages of skilled chefs and they have been facing difficulty in obtaining work permits for overseas skilled workers. This situation is going to put many businesses at risk, warned Hanz. Reportedly, it has been quite a long time the association is alerting the immigration department about the issue, but the latter has been claiming that the country has adequate numbers of skilled workers who could be fitted for the vacancies.

But, the association is clueless about what the immigration department has been telling. They cannot find any of New Zealand citizens applying for the jobs. Wellington happens to be the city which has been facing shortages of chefs mostly. The Hanz was being told by the immigration officials the city has about twenty-eight unemployed skilled chefs. As per the information, the association promised to provide them with work within a day, but ended up receiving only 2 CVs.

The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Social Development are likely to look into matter and find out whether the country has enough qualified and skilled chefs who could meet the shortages of skilled chefs or not.