I see the latest people to look at immigration to solve their employment woes is the aged care sector. 

Aged care workers are seeking urgent changes to immigration rules to plug what they call ‘gaping holes’ in their workforce.

Training beneficiaries for jobs is a step in the right direction, but it won’t fix the problem. 

There are 85,000 people over the age of 85. That number is expected to jump to 220,000 in 20 years time.

The aged care sector says it’ll need a thousand caregivers a year for the next 10 years to meet that growth. So they’re relying on immigration to help.

The Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway, who's arguably a bit busy these days trying to save his job over the Karel Shroubek affair, has said it’s one of the government's top priorities to better match the skills and talents of migrant workers with what's needed in the country's workforce.

Work is apparently underway to develop a more responsive immigration system which is interesting given this government campaigned on reducing the number of immigrants particularly in areas where jobs could be filled by New Zealanders.

But guess what? New Zealanders aren’t, can’t or won’t fill the jobs. Let’s take the teachers for example. The teacher shortage has already seen the government relax its rules around immigration for teachers.

The English language test for foreign teachers is likely to be canned next year as part of the government’s review into loosening requirements for foreign teachers. Those sort of changes appear necessary to help plug the gap, but some warn it could also mean an influx of teachers unable to read or write English well.

But as a government, how do you have it both ways? On the one hand, pro-New Zealanders in jobs and anti-immigration, yet on the other hand, loosening up rules for certain sectors when it suits.

How do you pick which sector gets the rules relaxed? Is it the squeakiest wheel? There will be other sectors who’d love a loosening up of immigration requirements for their workforce. But do they get it?

It feels like policy on the hoof, one rule for some sectors, another rule for others. That sort of inconsistency equals confusion. Perhaps when Iain Lees-Galloway has finished digging himself out of the Shroubek hole, he could address the fairness around rules and requirements for immigrant workers.