Published on 21 Aug 2025

Empowering Pacific Nations Through Labour Mobility: Supporting Pacific Labour Mobility Regional Assessment

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Matt Allen Chief Executive Officer Contact me
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Nick Leffler Organisational Design + Change Lead Contact me

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) needed a deeper understanding of how to support Pacific nations' participation in labour mobility. Since 2011, the Supporting Pacific Labour Mobility (SPLM) Programme helped Pacific partners to maximise their participation in the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, which enables Pacific workers to work in New Zealand.

Following a 2022 evaluation, MFAT commissioned Allen + Clarke to redesign SPLM for its third phase, shifting toward direct capacity support and contracted technical assistance for Pacific Labour Sending Units (LSUs). Procurement delays created an urgent need for assistance in assessing the unique requirements of participating nations.

Allen + Clarke's assessment of capacity and capability gaps in the LSUs of seven Pacific nations helped to refine how MFAT delivers labour mobility support. Our fieldwork identified specific capacity gaps in each country, enabling targeted interventions that strengthen Pacific participation in the RSE scheme and deliver greater development benefits.

Key Takeaways:

  • Our process mapping across seven Pacific nations revealed specific capacity constraints limiting labour mobility benefits.

  • We built direct relationships with LSUs, creating trust that enabled honest assessment of needs.

  • Our practical recommendations focused on high-impact interventions that addressed immediate operational challenges.
By understanding each nation's unique context, MFAT can now deliver support that addresses specific constraints while building sustainable capacity. This will enhance economic resilience for Pacific communities and strengthen New Zealand's relationships with its Pacific partners.

Our hands-on Approach

Our established expertise in Pacific labour mobility positioned us to deliver this critical assessment. We brought technical understanding of mobility systems alongside cultural awareness of Pacific contexts.

We conducted extensive in-country fieldwork, spending a full week in each nation. Before arriving, we researched each country's RSE participation history and connected with LSUs through local MFAT representatives.

Once on the ground, we met with stakeholders across the entire worker journey including LSU staff managing day-to-day operations, immigration authorities processing visas, police conducting background checks, medical professionals performing health checks and welfare officers supporting workers and families. 

At the core of our assessment, we ran collaborative workshops with LSU teams to map every step of worker mobilisation. These sessions identified roles, responsibilities, and challenges at each point in the process. We then pinpointed specific barriers where additional capacity or technical assistance would deliver the greatest benefit.

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What we found

Our assessment revealed that while LSUs employed capable and committed staff, most faced significant capacity constraints. Common challenges emerged across multiple countries: 

  • Data management overwhelm - the adoption of new recruitment database systems significantly increased workloads. LSU staff spent excessive time on data entry, limiting their capacity for strategic work.

  • Limited pre-departure preparation - most countries conducted short briefings using generic information. Workers missed country-specific preparation that would help them succeed in New Zealand.

  • Minimal reintegration support - LSUs lacked capacity to help returning workers leverage their skills and earnings for long-term benefit.

  • Operational focus over strategy - day-to-day demands prevented engagement with policy issues affecting their workers' experience.

  • Resource limitations - outdated technology and inadequate facilities slowed operations and created unnecessary inefficiencies.

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Tailored Solutions

We developed country-specific recommendations based on these findings in the form of new specialist roles to address key gaps, practical resource upgrades to equip teams with appropriate technology and facilities and technical assistance to develop improved systems and processes, especially around worker preparation and reintegration. 

Our regional calibration exercise compared findings across all seven countries, allowing us to develop a balanced programme that directed resources where they would create maximum impact.

Our assessment created a solid foundation for MFAT to implement SPLM's third phase effectively. We delivered:

 

  • Detailed process maps documenting each country's mobilisation procedures. 

  • Country-specific support recommendations tailored to local priorities. 

  • Optimal contracting approaches for efficient programme delivery. 

  • Strategic allocation guidance based on comparative needs analysis. 

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Interconnected coloured pathways forming abstract network diagram