With skill shortages returning to many Australian industries, there is a fear that many skilled New Zealanders will decide to move across the Tasman.

The latest Clarius Skills Index has shown that seventeen out of the 20 skilled occupations covered by the report saw an increase in demand for skilled labour. Nine of them even registered a shortage of skilled workers.

According to Alasdair Thompson, CEO of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), despite the end of the recession, New Zealand is still struggling with skills shortages. 

Thompson added that the flow of Kiwis moving across the Tasman had slowed down during the recession, but that is about to change. “That’s not going to last too much longer, with the demand for skilled labour [in Australia] and [the Australian] economy cooking with gas; it’s quite predictable that the brain drain is going to speed up again.” 

If his predictions are correct, New Zealand businesses could be about to suffer even more from a lack of skilled workers.

EMA advisory services manager David Lowe agrees that the shortages have always been present in New Zealand and that they will re-emerge, now that the country is out of recession.

"I think the thing that we need to be very mindful of is, while we might not have jobs for some people in New Zealand, if the Aussies have jobs for them it's a bit of a no-brainer as to what they are going to do – they're going to jump on a plane,” commented Lowe. "And then, of course, our recovery comes just a fraction after Australia's, and we will go looking for these people and they're no longer here.”