Reviewing the Essential Skills in Demand Lists

What are the Essential Skills in Demand (ESID) Lists?The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment maintains three lists consisting of:

• the Long-term Skill Shortage List
• the Immediate Skill Shortage List 
• the Canterbury Skill Shortage List.

The lists help to ensure that New Zealand’s skills needs are met by facilitating the entry of appropriately skilled migrants to fill shortages. However, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified New Zealand citizens or resident workers available to undertake the work.


Search the lists using our Skill shortage list check.
When is the next review?The Immediate and Long Term Lists are reviewed annually by the Ministry. The 2016 review commenced on 18 April 2016. Decisions will be published under ‘Latest News’ about December.


The Canterbury List is reviewed more regularly. The next review is scheduled to be completed about April 2016.


If you are interested in submitting an occupation for review, this page guides you through the necessary steps.


If you have any questions about the review or you wish to be added to the ESID database, to receive information about the review, please contact: [email protected]. This database is designed for occupational groups (such as employer groups, trade unions and industry training bodies - not individual persons).


Please note that only queries relating to the addition, retention or removal of occupations on the lists will be responded to from the shortages review mailbox. If you have a query relating to your own immigration status or whether your qualifications/experience meet list criteria please contact Immigration New Zealand to discuss your query.
Criteria for changes to the ESID ListsThe review process places an emphasis on ensuring that there is sound evidence to support changes to the lists.


Before a new occupation is added to one of the lists, the following must be confirmed.

• Industry is committed to training New Zealanders in these occupations.
• Industry is committed to fully utilising the domestic labour market before considering employing overseas workers.
• The shortage is not due to recruitment and retention issues arising as a result of terms and conditions of employment.
• Industry is committed to the provisions in New Zealand employment legislation that is available to workers.
• There is evidence of employers having difficulty employing staff.
• The numbers of apprentice or graduate trainees, and workers leaving or retiring from the industry have been estimated.
• Details of the qualification and skills required for the occupation have been confirmed.
• The shortage is not employer specific.
• There is a significant shortage for the occupation that may reasonably be met by migrants (generally measured by at least 50 work visas per annum).

In addition to the above criteria, there are specific requirements related to each list.
Long-term Skill Shortage List CriteriaFor an occupation to be added to the Long-term Skill Shortage List:

• There must be an ongoing and sustained (absolute) shortage, both globally and in New Zealand.
• The shortage must be across all geographic regions in New Zealand.
• The occupation must have a base salary of at least NZ$45,000 based on a 40-hour working week.
• The occupation must be highly skilled, meet the Skilled Migrant Category definition of skilled employment, and applicants must meet any registration requirements.

Immediate Skill Shortage List CriteriaFor an occupation to be added to the Immediate Skill Shortage List, it must: 

• require highly skilled workers
• have an obvious shortage of workers in one or more geographic regions.

Canterbury Skill Shortage List CriteriaFor an occupation to be added to the Canterbury Skill Shortage List, it must:

• require highly skilled workers
• have an obvious shortage of workers in Canterbury.

The Review ProcessImmediate and Long-term ListsThe process for reviewing the Immediate and Long-term Lists includes the following features:

• an occupation nomination procedure, through which industry stakeholders – for example employers’ groups, trade unions and industry training bodies – are invited to submit proposals for an occupation to be included, removed or moved between lists
• the preparation and publication of Preliminary Indicator Evidence Reports (PIERs) that draw together and assess relevant data for each of the occupations under review and provide the Ministry’s preliminary view on the status of the occupation
• a submission process, through which industry stakeholders are invited to provide additional information and evidence about the nature and extent of skill shortages in the occupations under review.

The role of industryInformation provided by industry stakeholders is a vital part of the assessment process. This is particularly the case where statistical data is out of date, such as Census information on salaries, or where data is not available, perhaps because the occupational group is too small to generate sufficient data for national surveys. Interested stakeholders are therefore strongly encouraged to collect robust evidence to support their submissions. Further information on the nature of the evidence required is noted below.
Canterbury ListThe review process involves a detailed analysis of:

• how many beneficiaries, trainees or people from elsewhere in New Zealand are available to fill the skilled vacancies
• forecasts of where and when there will be demand for skilled workers in certain occupations
• consultation with key Canterbury stakeholders.

The Canterbury list also draws on the occupations on the Immediate and Long-term Skill Shortage Lists that are relevant for the Canterbury rebuild.


As part of the new review process for the Canterbury list, it is not necessary for employers or industry to make submissions (as for the Immediate and Long- term Lists).
Key steps in the review process

1. Call for proposals 
   The Ministry calls for proposals from industry stakeholders for occupations to be reviewed. The 2016 review commenced on 18 April 2016.
2. Occupation Nominations 
   Submitters prepare an Occupation Nomination to make a case for an occupation to be reviewed, including evidence in support of the proposed change. See below for further advice about making a nomination.  Nominations will close on 11 May 2016.
3. Selection of occupations to be reviewed 
   The Ministry assesses the Occupation Nominations and selects occupations to be reviewed. The Ministry may also identify occupations that it wishes to review as a result of its own investigations. As a general rule, occupations identified by industry stakeholders take precedence.
4. Publication of Preliminary Indicator Evidence Reports 
   The Ministry prepares a Preliminary Indicator Evidence Report (PIER) for each occupation selected to be part of the review. The PIER collates relevant statistical data about the occupation and provides the Ministry’s preliminary view on the status of the occupation. The PIERs for each occupation will be published on the Immigration New Zealand website about 24 June 2016.
5. Call for submissions on occupations selected for review
   Submissions are sought from industry groups and others about the nature and extent of skill shortages in the occupations selected for review to ensure that all relevant views are considered.  The submission stage will close on 29 July 2016.  
6. Wider sector consultation on occupations Once submissions are received, the Ministry  undertakes any further follow-up with submitters, consults with government agencies and industry, and collates any additional data that may be required to inform decisions on changes to the lists.
7. Decisions taken Once all consultation has been completed occupations selected for review may be added to one of the lists, removed from a list, or moved from one list to the other, depending on the criteria listed above. There may be cases where the Ministry does not consider adding an occupation to the lists to be the most appropriate response to the shortage, and may recommend an alternative.
8. Decisions published 
   Final decisions on occupational changes from the 2016 review are expected to be published on this website in December 2016.

Important points for preparing an Occupation NominationThe Occupation Nomination process provides an opportunity for industry stakeholders to request a change to an occupation for the Essential Skills in Demand Lists. To be eligible, the nominated occupation must have an occupation code. These can be found using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).


The completion of an Occupation Nomination form is the first step in requesting that an occupation be:

• added to one of the skills shortage lists
• removed from one of the skills shortage lists
• moved from one list to the other.

In general, Occupation Nominations are only considered by the Ministry if the occupation has the following:

• a New Zealand Qualification Authority recognised qualification
• an ANZSCO skill level classification of level 1, 2 or 3
• the support of at least one industry body or professional association, such as an employers’ group, trade union, or industry training body.

In addition, if the occupation was reviewed by the Ministry within the last review period, you will need to demonstrate a significant change in labour market conditions that warrants a further review.


Submissions must be made on the Occupation Nomination form [DOC, 90KB]. This example of a nomination [PDF, 182KB] may be useful as a guide for the information that we are seeking. 
Important points for preparing a submissionThe submission process is an opportunity for stakeholders to provide additional information and different perspectives on the nature and extent of skill shortages in occupations selected for review. Stakeholder submissions are a vital source of information, helping to inform the Ministry’s final assessment of the status of occupations.


The following points must be considered when preparing a submission:

• It is made by a coordinated group of industry stakeholders such as employer groups, trade unions and industry training bodies.
• It represents the shared views of those groups and stakeholders – this should be demonstrated by including evidence of consultation.
• It is supported by evidence that can be substantiated in some way – for example, evidence sourced from a survey, administrative data, or feedback collected from employees. As a general rule, the Ministry is looking for evidence that presents clearly stated specific facts and has a reasonable breadth of coverage across the industry – that is, it represents the views or situation of a reasonable proportion of employers, employees, trainers and/or other stakeholders.

Page Last Updated: 22 Apr 2016

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