High pay rates of up to $60 per hour and incentives such as cash bonuses, prizes and free transport, accommodation and food are being offered to lure pickers to the New Zealand kiwifruit industry. The kiwifruit industry requires 24,000 people to pick and pack over a typical harvest, but is very short of workers this season due to the lack of international workers, such as backpackers or workers from overseas who normally travel to New Zealand for seasonal work.
There is currently a shortage of 6,500 backpackers due to border closures. Added to that is both a shortage of seasonal workers from overseas and New Zealand workers due to the Omicron wave.
This season, an experienced picker can make over $60 an hour or $500-600 a day, he says. Even a beginner who has never done the work before can make $30-$40 an hour.
Source: stuff.co.nz
