‘A very big gap’: Pacific businesses desperate for staff as workers leave for Australia and New Zealand

The Taumeasina Island resort in Samoa has lost a huge number of staff to the seasonal worker programs in Australia and New Zealand. Photograph: Rudy Bartley/The Guardian

For most visitors to the exclusive resort on Taumeasina Island near Apia, Samoa, it is the golden sands and tropical waters that appeal. But for others, the real attraction may be the resort’s staff themselves.

Business people from Australia and New Zealand often stay at the resort while visiting Samoa in search of workers to recruit for seasonal jobs back home.