Hays Recruiting: New Christchurch fuels a new skills crisis

29 August, 2011

Hays Recruiting: New Christchurch fuels a new skills crisis

After months of uncertainty early plans have been proposed for Christchurch’s $2 billion CBD makeover, but recruiting experts Hays warns that skills shortages will be problematic and those involved in the rebuild will face stiff competition for the top talent.

“Christchurch City Council's draft recovery plan for the central business district includes more than 70 projects, which will obviously create a need for a large number of trades and professional people,” says Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.

“These projects are expected to be implemented over the next 10 to 20 years, so the demand for skilled workers will be long-lasting. Now that the decision has been made, construction companies have started to firm up their hiring plans.

“Already there has been an impact on the domestic candidate market, with accounting support, management accountants and sales secretaries topping the list of candidates needed first so that companies can plan costs and budgets. Contact centre candidates also remain in high demand to answer inquiries from the general public about the rebuild.

“As we move closer to the commencement of the first projects, we expect the demand for construction professionals to sky rocket. But where will these skills come from? Our domestic candidate market will be quickly stretched. As New Zealand’s market improves, Auckland and Wellington will have their own staffing requirements which will also impact on the availability of talent. Our country’s skills shortage - or a shortage of qualified and experienced trades and professional people - may have been hidden by the recession, but it didn’t disappear. The rebuild is now forcing this issue back into the spotlight,” he said.

While employers will face a skills shortage challenge, Hays says the rebuild presents an opportunity for job seekers.

“Those people willing to relocate to Christchurch to work on rebuild projects will emerge with internationally recognised experience. This is a real career advancement opportunity to gain experience on renowned projects that will add kudos to your CV,” says Jason.

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays
Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. It is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide. It operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

Hays employs 7,086 staff operating from 257 offices in 31 countries across 17 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2010, Hays placed around 50,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 180,000 people into temporary assignments.

ENDS

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