Changes to occupation data for international travel and migration statistics

Statistics NZ will soon be adopting the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) for coding the occupation of permanent and long-term migrants. October 2009 will be the first month of data to use the ANZSCO classification. Data for this month will be released on 23 November 2009.

The classification provides a basis for the standardised collection, analysis, and dissemination of occupation data for Australia and New Zealand. It replaces the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (NZSCO).

Will NZSCO data still be available?

Occupation data will not be coded to the NZSCO classification in parallel with the ANZSCO classification. Hence, September 2009 will be the final month of data for which the NZSCO classification will be used.

Why change the occupation classification?

Occupation classifications need to be periodically reviewed to ensure they remain relevant. ANZSCO has been developed to be more meaningful and useful, with major occupation groups determined based on a mix of skill level and skill specialisations. An additional benefit for international travel and migration data is a significant reduction in the number of responses coded to 'response unidentifiable', with more responses coded to specific occupation categories.

Why the timing of the change?

Changing classifications involves a large amount of work, with modifications needed to the processing systems used to capture the data as well as to the outputs available to users. Data changes would ideally coincide with the start of a calendar year, but this is the busiest time for processing of international travel and migration data - as summer (including Christmas and New Year) is the peak travel season. Hence, changes are usually scheduled away from this period.

What detail will be available?

The occupations of permanent and long-term migrants are coded to the minor occupation group level of the NZSCO classification, and output at this level and above. Under ANZSCO, the main levels of output will continue to be minor occupation groups and above. Both the ANZSCO and NZSCO classifications include 99 minor occupation groups, though the groups differ between the two classifications.

The ANZSCO and NZSCO classifications include more detailed occupation groups, but many responses on the arrival and departure cards are too general for this more specific coding. When one year of ANZSCO data becomes available, it will be analysed to determine if the more detailed unit occupation groups (of which there are 361) can be released. Preliminary analysis suggests that only some unit groups may be suitable for output, on an annual basis.

Where can I find the data?

The primary source of data on permanent and long-term migration by occupation is the Infoshare database, which is freely available on the Statistics NZ website. International travel and migration tables are available under the Tourism category on the Browse screen of the database. New tables will be introduced that are equivalent to the NZSCO-based tables currently available. These will be tables of permanent and long-term migration by selected countries of residence and occupation, for both major and minor occupation groups. Details of the new tables will be noted on the Infoshare data changes webpage shortly before they are available.

Customised international travel and migration tables are also available on request, on an adhoc or regular basis. There is often a small charge for this service. These can be requested by emailing info@stats.govt.nz, or by phoning Statistics NZ toll-free on 0508 525 525.

What are the differences between ANZSCO and NZSCO?

Although ANZSCO and NZSCO have a similar number of occupation groups at both the major and minor levels, many of the occupation groups and the occupations they contain have changed. This means that it will be difficult to compare the ANZSCO data with NZSCO data. A similar situation exists before and after April 1991, when there was also a major change to the occupation classification.

As part of the preparation for the switch between classifications, permanent and long-term migrants for the June 2009 month were coded to the ANZSCO classification as a special exercise. As the migrants had also been coded to the NZSCO classification during regular processing, this enabled the results from the two classifications to be compared. The tables below show the results for the major occupation groups.

Permanent and Long-term Migration by Major Occupation Group

June 2009 month 

Permanent and Long-term Migration by Major Occupation Group

Comparison of ANZSCO and NZSCO coding (excluding residual categories¹)
June 2009 month 

What will the quality of ANZSCO data be like?

On arrival and departure cards, people are asked to enter their 'occupation or job'. A 12-character response box is provided for the answer. Because of the limited size of the response box, occupation responses are often quite general, and abbreviations are common. Other Statistics NZ data collections not only have more space for answers, but also include supporting questions to aid in occupation coding. For example, the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings also asked what tasks or duties the person spent the most time on as part of their stated job, and asked for the person's business or employer name and main activity.

Given the limited occupation information from arrival and departure cards, permanent and long-term migrants may not be coded to the group which would be most appropriate if more information was available. One example would be the occupations of 'carpenter' (which belongs in the 'technicians and trades workers' major occupation group) and 'carpenter's assistant' (which belongs in the 'labourers group'). Almost no 'carpenter's assistant' responses are given on migration cards, with people who would belong in this occupation category probably responding simply with 'carpenter'. As there is no further information available, all 'carpenter' responses are coded to the 'technicians and trades workers' group.

Users of international travel and migration statistics should note the limitations with occupation data, including that it may not be entirely consistent with the occupation coding in other collections such as the Census of Population and Dwellings. The limitations exist under both the ANZSCO and NZSCO classifications, and are the reason for outputs being restricted to minor occupation group level and above.

One improvement under the ANZSCO classification is that more responses can be coded to specific occupation groups rather than to the 'response unidentifiable' category. Some general or unspecific responses will still be coded to this category, the most common including 'administrator', 'consultant', 'hospitality', 'self employed', and 'designer'.

Where can I find more detail about the ANZSCO classification and occupation groups?

The Statistics NZ website has a page about the occupation classifications. It includes background information about the classifications, and downloadable files listing all of the ANZSCO occupation categories.

The Statistics NZ website also includes a classification code finder tool, which allows you to search occupations within the ANZSCO classification.