Does it mean that these jobs are those unskilled (like working in wait staff, room attendants in hotels or service crews in fastfood joints (for starters)
No, not in the long term for most people, and rarely even for the short term.
if one is not qualified in SMC or Talent (Accredited Employers) categories, is a General Work category another option for Permanent Residence status?
Absolutely not.
An open work visa (one that would give a foreigner permission to take any job that's offered) is only available to limited categories of people, for instance young people on a Working Holiday Visa, just during the length of that visa and in accordance with the regulations on it, for people on the SMC or Graduate Job Search Visas (while they are looking for skilled work and only till that visa runs out) and for those who are the partner of a NZ national or visa-holder, sponsored in by them. In the last case, the reason for giving the visa is because the (qualified by birth or skills) partner wants them there.
Otherwise, the NZ government makes a kind of swap when granting a visa - the right to live in NZ is in exchange for the foreigner bringing their skill and experience to use in the NZ workplace. If you're not doing that, you don't get a visa.
NZ has any number of their own nationals who can do unskilled jobs and who don't have qualifications - they don't need to ship any more in.
Temporary work visas are granted mainly on the basis that an employer offers a skilled job, having seen that a foreigner is right for it.
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...entialwork.htm There is one small loophole in the regulation which allows a foreigner to be employed for a low-grade job IF the employer has tried and failed to get someone who is a national or resident to do that work, but the fact is very carefully checked out (labour market test). And the visa would be strictly limited, and not automatically renewable - when the person asked for it to be renewed, the boss would have had to prove he had tried and failed to find a local worker all over again.