CA ANZ welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Productivity Commission’s Improving Economic Resilience Inquiry.

As part of our submission, we identify labour supply chain disruptions as a concern for the economic resilience of New Zealand. While we acknowledge that the labour supply chain is not the focus of this Inquiry, the sectors listed all rely on labour in some way. We point out that immigration and education policy settings can be used to enhance the resilience of labour supply chains.

Financial sector labour shortages have substantial implications for the country’s economy. We ask the Productivity Commission to consider adding either the financial sector as an additional sector for the purposes of this Inquiry, or alternatively (and potentially more appropriately), for labour in this sector to be characterised as underpinning and contributing to the success and resilience of other sectors.

Much of the compliance burden that falls on businesses comes within the remit of the finance function. Compliance with emerging corporate reporting requirements will involve considerable investment of time and resources for accounting professionals across the country. The skill shortage already faced by the profession will be exacerbated by the ever-increasing compliance obligations.

For more information, visit the Productivity Commission’s website.