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Top ten countries to target for seasonal workers to NZ [Infographic]


Our customers have had success in attracting seasonal workers to NZ. They are doing this by targeting the top ten Working Holiday Visa (WHV) countries with their digital recruitment advertising. So we wanted to share this data more widely to encourage others to target these working holiday makers (or backpackers) to do the same.


Before the Covid border closures, we would welcome around 50,000 working holiday makers to NZ each year. Along with locals and RSE workers, this group is a critical part of NZ’s seasonal horticultural workforce. But while WHV caps have been increased and applications have been approved at unprecedented rates (nearly 75,000 approved in 2022), we’re still only seeing about 60-70% of the pre-Covid numbers actually in NZ.


In this infographic, you’ll see the top ten WHV countries with Germany, United Kingdom and France way out in front. The chart on the right-hand side shows the relative number of WHVs approved by country. We have determined the top ten based on the five years pre-Covid (2015-2019) and shown the comparison with the WHVs approved in 2022.


Or download the infographic as a pdf:


These top ten countries are all worth targeting for seasonal workers. You could also consider other countries that have unlimited visas or those where their visa cap is still not filled.


We have set out below:

  • those countries which have unlimited visas available (which includes nine of the top ten)

  • those that have a limited amount of visas available (capped) but are still open

  • those that should not be targeted because their limited amount (quota) has been filled and they are closed until the date listed


Working Holiday Visa scheme status by country

Open

Unlimited


Open

Limited


Closed

Limited

Belgium

Croatia

Argentina (14 Sep 23)

Canada

Czech Republic

Austria (11 May 2023)

Denmark

Estonia

Brazil (10 Oct 23)

Finland

Israel

Chile (19 Oct 23)

France

Latvia

China (1 Aug 23)

Germany

Lithuania

Hong Kong (28 Mar 23)

Ireland

Luxembourg

Hungary (27 Apr 23)

Italy

Malta

Malaysia (no date)

Japan

Poland

Mexico (28 Feb 23)

Netherlands

Portugal

Peru (3 Oct 23)

Norway

Singapore

Philippines (16 Mar 23)

Sweden

Slovenia

Slovakia (4 May 2023)

United Kingdom

South Korea

Uruguay (2 Nov 23)

United States of America

Spain

Vietnam (no date)

​

Taiwan

​

​

Thailand

​

​

Turkey

​

WHV status as at 21 February 2023. Top ten in bold. Dates are when the WHV Scheme re-opens for that country.


We hope you’ve found this information valuable and it helps you to attract seasonal workers from other countries.



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