Sometimes when I talk to people about New Zealand, I get these questions: “But if I decide to move to New Zealand, where can I work there? What can I do for a living in New Zealand?” So I decided to write an article about this.

Where can you work in the Land of sheep?

Contrary to what many people might think, there are many more things to do in New Zealand than just relaxing and traveling. The population of this legendary “Country of The White Cloud” is actively working, and its industry is very developed. New Zealand is being associated with sheep and ecologically clean manufacturing for a reason – both these branches are developed here more than anywhere else on the planet. You won’t be able to find another country where the amount of sheep exceeds the human population thirteen times! About 47.4 million sheep live in New Zealand. But not all people in New Zealand are working in sheep growing and harvesting industry, there are also other fairly developed industries.

Tourism industry.
This is one of the main sources of income for New Zealand. The country is known for offering a wide variety of extreme activities, and tourists from all over the world come here to test themselves and to enjoy. New Zealand’s landscape and beauty of its nature are perfectly suited for sightseeing flights, bungee jumping, diving with dolphins and many more. There are also a lot of souvenir stores, tour agencies and accommodation options. In most of the cities in New Zealand you might have the impression that local population doesn’t exist at all, and all the services are intended for tourists only.

Agriculture.
When travelling in New Zealand’s countryside, it becomes obvious that more than half of the open spaces are covered with the agricultural fields and grazing cattle. New Zealand is the second largest (first is UK) wool manufacturer. Modern technology is used in this field, which facilitates work and gives the ability to employ less human power. The vast majority of cattle are grown for meat. Most of the produced meat, as well as dairy products are exported. Fruits and vegetables are grown in sufficient quantities for local consumption, while Kiwi and grapes are also being exported. It is still a mystery to me why the local fruits and veggies are expensive, but one thing is true – they are very delicious and ecologically clean.

The Forestry.
Consists of 6.4 million hectares of native trees on west slopes of Southern Alps and 1.5 million hectares of human-planted forests. The human-planted forests mainly consist of Californian pines (Pinus radiata) which give the bulk of raw material for pulp-and-paper and wood-processing industries. New Zealand’s government started the tree-planting even before the Second World War. Nowadays, while driving in New Zealand’s countryside and passing the planted forests you will notice the different stages of logging where one side of the hill might be covered with big trees and the other is bald. Forestry is a very busy and thriving industry in New Zealand.

The Fishery.
Coastal waters of New Zealand are rich with many commercially valuable fish species and edible mollusks. Introduction in 1978 of a 200-mile special economic water-zone has made New Zealand to be the owner of one of the largest sea-water areas in the world. New Zealand also has many rivers which are also very rich in fish, and fishing is a very common past-time in New Zealand. But in order to fish in New Zealand’s lakes and rivers (and also in the ocean) you first have to get a fishing license. And, of course, seafood is also being exported.

Mineral resources and Energy.
Gold rush stormed through New Zealand during the 19th century, but nowadays New Zealanders work only in coal mines. Also local black magnetic sand is being converted to steel. Geothermal sources, rivers, and strong winds are being used for producing energy. Kiwis are very environmentally aware and are constantly developing methods of conservative and efficient use of nature resources, while maintaining the cleanliness of ecology.

Related posts:

1. New Zealand – The Land of Honey