Many Pacific workers shared that they were not receiving the opportunity to negotiate pay or were being declined for pay negotiations despite holding qualifications. Within the health sector in particular, a significant number of Pacific workers told us they had the relevant qualifications and started new roles only to discover further down the line that they started on lower pay than their fellow colleagues. One Pacific health worker told us that “I discovered my new colleagues were of equal qualifications to me but were paid more” (S177). When people became aware of differences like these, they felt they were often ignored when they tried to make the case for equitable treatment. One Pacific healthcare worker told us that “there is always an excuse to say why my salary is not in the level where it supposed to be, although I have a good qualification, years of service and experience, same as others” (S178). Lack of pay transparency by employers Another feature of the recruitment process that discouraged and deterred Pacific workers was the lack of transparency from employers regarding salary bands and qualifications. Pacific peoples found it challenging that hiring parties “aren’t forthcoming with what their annual salary range is, they don’t provide this info” (S091). This was seen as a barrier as it prevented Pacific job seekers from determining salary expectations. One Pacific health worker told us: I will email to enquire about the potential salary range. They’ll ask me, what’s my salary expectation – almost to catch me out? It’s hard to find typically what a role is worth – often there may be a few websites that have the lower, median, upper range salary for NZ companies. (S091) Opportunities for Pacific peoples to support one another For many Pacific workers, securing employment often happened through personal networks. These networks include family and community members and provide an alternative avenue to gaining employment that is positive for Pacific job seekers. One Pacific corporate worker told us that “most jobs are through friends I know who refer me” (S324). The collective nature of Pacific culture is pivotal in the recruitment process. In the cases of Pacific peoples who shared their success stories in finding work, there was a sense of relief and the recruitment process was viewed as a positive experience when they knew someone. As one Pacific worker said, it is “easy and good when there’s someone you know there” (S647). Utilising the Pacific community can be an effective alternative method to find work rather than seeking support from recruitment agencies or the traditional mode of applying for a job. While this is often a positive experience for these Pacific workers, the literature on networks and jobs tends to suggest that using personal networks can contribute to occupational segregation if the people in your personal network only work in certain sectors and certain jobs. These will then be the same kinds of jobs open to the people looking for work.40 A group of Pacific workers from the education sector shared the following sentiments on how personal networks can unintentionally contribute to occupational segregation: Another Pacific healthcare worker who is looking to progress in her career told us it “has been challenging job searching particularly when pay information is not available on sites to determine whether or not I should be applying” (S160). 40 Most of them because they are migrants, they go into that horticulture work … You know, their children are finishing and going straight into that. So we have this dream, this aspiration as Pasifika that we are going to come to New Zealand, the land of milk and honey, but if our experience, if we started off the back foot, anyway our kids are going to follow. Because like [name] said, people don’t know what they don’t know. (T004) Matada Research Group, Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry Literature Review. Voices of Pacific peoples 43