I was talking to a woman today whose son is a head chef in a restaurant on the North Shore. As Head Chef, he is paid $15 / hour. He has been there for more than 4 years. The owner of the place says they can't afford to pay him more than that. His mother is telling him to go to Australia where he can earn more than that for the same job.
She said everywhere she looks, she sees people on the minimum wage who can't get any pays rises and she wonders how they are going to cope with rising prices.
I asked her if she had any ideas as to why they can't get any wage rises. She didn't know.
Wages don't appear to be able to rise these days as they did in the past when costs rose. Does anyone think costs will therefore stop rising? Or will more and more people have to make do with less...and where will that leave the NZ economy in the mid to longer term?
In recent times, easy access to debt has been cushioning many from the reality that they don't earn enough to support the lifestyles they think they should be enjoying. Disposable incomes are falling.
This video from Bernard Hickey at interest.co.nz, on March 25th, sums the New Zealand context up quickly and clearly.
Daily review 15/09/2025
4 hours ago
Chef's wages are disgusting in NZ. I've been trying to find a job for my husband who's Chinese in any asian restaurants in Christchurch. They only offer between $8-10 an hour. Funny, considering how the minimum wage is $12. Can't believe how dodgy these places are.
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