Because this farmer says you are.
According to Mr Bloem, who is a long term pig farmer, productivity has soared since he employed Filipino workers at its Highcliff piggery and his operation is producing an extra 1500 pigs a year from the same number of sows.
He had become frustrated with New Zealand workers who were “lazy, unmotivated and didn’t want to go the extra mile to learn anything”.
“In the end, I had nothing to lose,” he said.
This farmer was given a contact in the Phillipines through his pig-breeding company, and the contact’s uncle, brother-in-law and nephew came to work on the property about 2007.
Two of the Filipino workers remain on the property, while a third has moved on but has been replaced. Mr Bloem says they were all quick learners and very motivated to get excellence performance.
Mr Bloem says that in all his years as a pig farmer, there were probably only four or five staff that he would previously have considered worthwhile to send for further training. He encouraged training and one of his Filipino workers, Jimmy Malit, recently achieved a herd manager qualification through industry training organisation AgITO.
I don’t doubt Mr Bloem’s claim that the Pork Industry is tough going. And I have no doubt that Filipino workers are motivated to work hard and do well so they can stay in New Zealand.
But additional questions for Mr Bloem I have include :
- How much do you pay your workers?
- How do you treat your workers?
- How do you help ensure they have a future in the industry they can be part of, and proud of?
I’m not prejudging the answers. I’m just saying that in my experience, NZ (and all) workers are only “lazy and unmotivated” where they are paid poorly and treated badly.
Or have I got that wrong? Should they just be grateful to have a job?
I have no problem with skilled overseas workers coming to work in New Zealand. But we need to ask questions where workers from other countries are doing the work no New Zealander will do because of low wages and poor treatment.
@millsy – dude, you’re a legend!
Your last sentence is awesome LOL 
@Millsy, if you werent so lazy and unmotivated you would have found time to sort your car our earlier allowing you to work later into the night witout worrying about having to get a taxi.
Just Kidding
@water boy & millsy.
I’m not having a go at the majority of kiwis who do a great job, and contribute (often more than) their fair share.
It’s those that could, but won’t, who annoy me.
We’ve had many years of ‘a lot of carrot and very little stick’ approach. It hasn’t worked.
Let’s turn that around.
Oldlogger, given the small number of unemployed, compared to
the employed population, Labour’s crackdown in 2007 on welfare abuse and testing for benefits, National’s re-crackdown during this term don’t waste your precious time and energy thinking it’s a huge problem. It’s like the law and order “debate”. Less people are murdered in NZ in a single year than die in workplace accidents, yet no one is scared to go to work or is demanding something be done to make workplaces safer for everyone.
We can walk down streets at night, we are safe in our houses, media and political focus upon this issue is shallow and self serving. They consider us fools every time anyone opens their mouth and suggest NZ is unsafe and focus on a tiny minority of lazy non workers or workers.
@oldlogger, Your comment about the stick is fine, but the fear is always (and quite a valid fear from what ive seen)that it gets used on everyone, not just those small percentage of no hopers.
We all know how you feel, I live down the road from a state house with numersous kids in it, the kids (of all ages) are out roaming the streets until all hours, the parents are hopeless. If we change the rules to target these paresnt it always ends up hurting good parents as well(Which the majority parents and state house tennants parents are).
Look at the anti smacking law, its was designed to target the very bad parents, but all it has done is terrify all us normal parents that we will get dobbed in for a smack on the bum when our kids push the boundarys too far.
Oh look, the Govt. was listening to me and have made some of the changes I suggested! Hooray!!!
It’s a good start in their first term, and they promise more before the election too!
Imagine what we can achieve next term.
New Zealand people are at the mercy of ridiculous Government free-trade policy that will inevitably lead to the unskilled workers of this country being forced to work for similar rates to those of our “Free-Trade Partners”
This cycle could be broken by simply refusing to purchase the tsunami of cheap imported junk on our shelves!!
It is the peoples choice as to what they purchase just the same as it is their choice which bank they choose.
Close your accounts with foreign owned banks and open new ones with N.Z owned banks.
If everyone did this(all NZ Government departments included) the country would be better-off by a staggering 8 Billion Dollars per year !!
Come on it is pretty simple imagine how much employment could be created with those savings !!!!
It is not difficult at all