Another 189 Samoan workers have been recruited to work for three-years in meat processing work in Australia.
The group will depart on 25 May.
Over 300 seasonal workers departed this month for employment in Australia through the Australian Labour Mobility programmes in the Seasonal Work Program (SWP) for 9 months and the Pacific Labour Scheme for three years.
Assistant Chief Executive Officer at Samoa’s Labour Export and Employment Division, Lemalu Nele Leilua in an email to Savali newspaper said there are plans for more recruitments of workers from Samoa in the future.
“We have resumed the recruitment of workers for Australia since the lockdown of COVID 19 pandemic started.
“The progress for the Australian Labour Mobility programme is going steadily for our workers, and this is a great assistance for our people to get employment to support their families.”
All the workers from Samoa will go through the quarantine process upon arrival in Australia, said Lemalu.
For seasonal employment under the Recognized Seasonal Employer’s (RSE) scheme in New Zealand, Lemalu said there are no recruitments at the moment, and that the number of recruited workers has declined due to COVID 19.
Lemalu said over 700 workers were recruited for employment in New Zealand in January and February this year.
“There are no new registrations for employment under the RSE scheme at the moment, and the public will be advised when we re-open registrations.
“We are prioritizing the recruitment of applicants who registered in our office for employment overseas in 2018 and 2019.”
Photo source Savali newspaper