Aussie companies are exporting jobs to New Zealand amid high wages across the Tasman, Dominion Post reports.

Woolworths, a major supermarket, is shifting 40 contact centre jobs from across the Tasman to Auckland within the week, while Imperial Tobacco has earlier said it will transfer manufacturing headquarters from Sydney to New Zealand.

Companies in the food industry were the first to move jobs from Australia to New Zealand over lower wages. Heinz Australia had cut over 300 jobs across three Australian states to focus in Hastings.

An International Labour Organisation report revealed Australian manufacturing workers earned more than US$35 an hour in 2008. In New Zealand, the rate is lower by US$15 per hour.

Manufacturing workers in Australia do better than those in Canada, Britain, New Zealand and the United States, according to the study. The study also noted that Australians earn over A$1000 a week, while counterparts in New Zealand earn an estimated A$700.

High wages and penalty rates, as well as the productivity of Australian workers, have all been in scrutiny in recent months, according to Dominion Post.

Toyota Australia chief executive Max Yasuda has aired his frustration over tardiness in his personnel at Altona, Melbourne, where absenteeism could be about 30 per cent.

Sough for comment, Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule told Dominion Post he believed New Zealand's "more holistic view on employment" had drawn Australian companies such as Heinz to New Zealand. Heinz will reportedly increase production in Hastings by 10 to 15 per cent.

For his part, Finance Minister Bill English said New Zealand was enjoying a more flexible industrial relations environment.

HJ Heinz Australia spokeswoman Jessica Ramdsen said the company's recently closed plant in Girgarre, Victoria was relatively small, but making it competitive require a very big investment. Still, she said labour conditions between Australia and New Zealand did not lead to the decision to focus on Hastings.

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