New Zealand’s Government are launching a campaign to lure Australian tech talent across the Tasman.
Grow Wellington, the government agency behind the drive to accelerate economic development in the capital, are attending the
New Zealand Jobs Expo in Melbourne this weekend in an effort to raise awareness about all Wellington has to offer.
Wellington boasts a fast growing ICT sector and startup community but is looking to recruit developers, analysts, strategists and UX designers, amongst others. The capital is also running a digital campaign this month to attract ICT and creative talent.
Among lifestyle benefits – people living in the capital have the highest life satisfaction in New Zealand – Grow Wellington claims, there are economic benefits for workers considering making the move: Wellington has the highest concentration of web-based and digital technology companies per capita in New Zealand, and a labour environment that ranked the top in APAC by FDi Intelligence.
HRM spoke to Gerard Quinn, CEO of Grow Wellington and Adelle Kenny, talent manager at Grow Wellington about the initiative.
“We’re really here to change and accelerate the growth of a regional economy,” they said. “As well as representing Wellington city and regional areas, our aim is to help individual businesses get better.”
Grow Wellington is building up specific sectors with campaigns to attracting talent and invite professionals into the region, ultimately bringing innovation and productivity into the workforce.
Kenny said that Wellington is often underestimated in comparison with larger cities.
“Many people think that only Auckland has job opportunities, but what we’ve found is that Wellington usually over-delivers,” she said.
“At the moment there’s a global IT shortage so we’re having to convert people who are capable but not necessarily trained. We’re training people to run conversion courses so that Wellington is able to provide the right offerings in key sectors.”
Grow Wellington is also bringing in fresh ideas by attracting New Zealand expats back from overseas as well as international expats.
“When people are deciding where to work, there is a mixture of hard and soft elements that factor in on the decision,” Quinn told
HRM. “As well as the city itself, there’s also a sense of collaboration in Wellington – companies really help each other out. There’s an edginess and a willingness to ‘have a go’ that you don’t necessarily get in larger cities.”
Not to mention Wellington’s tech opportunities.
“We do call ourselves the high tech capital of New Zealand,” Kenny said. “There is a global skill shortage at the moment, but because of the success of our screen and film sector there have been a lot of companies that have spun off of the creative talent. There’s a real hub of IT and tech in Wellington and it’s an easy place to start and grow business.”
Quinn added that the organisation is thinking up new ways to attract talent as there is an abundance of opportunity available.
“We’re preparing to look at innovative ways to get talent in and have its impact, rather than fill a set number of vacancies with restrictive job descriptions,” he said.
For more information on the jobs expo, click
here.
