Strengthening NZ economy key advantage to keep local talent

Strengthening New Zealand economy key advantage to keeping local talent this quarter

New Zealand employers want to hire candidates with local experience, yet we continue to lose skilled candidates to the lure of overseas, says recruiting experts Hays.

According to the April to June Hays Quarterly Report, released today, the recruiter found that while New Zealand remained a destination of choice for skilled candidates who are escaping tougher economies elsewhere in the world, candidates with local New Zealand experience top employers’ wish lists.

“It’s an ongoing challenge to keep skilled New Zealand talent within the country, particularly recent university graduates or candidates with a few years of industry experience,” says Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.

“This skills shortage is being felt from Christchurch to Auckland, but one of the most affected sectors seems to be accountancy. The market is facing a significant shortage of newly qualified Accountants and Analysts as local talent move overseas to gain international experience and in most cases earn higher salaries. This is leaving New Zealand employers having to look at ways they can attract new talent to fill vacancies. Many businesses that are looking at growing their headcount are having difficulty just keeping up with the number of positions to be backfilled.

“Energy is another sector that continues to face a talent challenge with increasing numbers of young trade professionals and Engineers looking for new opportunities in the Australian and overseas markets rather than locally. To stop the drain employers have been increasing salaries, offering better benefits and more flexible hours as a key strategy in encouraging more local applicants to apply for vacancies.

“These challenges also extend to the facilities management and legal sectors and resources and mining industry.

“While many of these gaps are being filled by overseas talent who are arriving here in greater numbers following poorer job prospects back home, the preference will continue to remain for candidates who have gained local experience and are use to New Zealand legislation, laws and ways of doing things to build strong local teams.

“Our economy continues to strengthen in light of the current global economic conditions and New Zealand employers should be using that to their advantage to both attract international talent of course but retain our own skilled people.

“We also suggest employers consider benefits, flexible hours or even secondments for attraction and retention purposes.”

According to the Hays Quarterly Report, the skills in most demand for the April to June quarter include:

• Hays Accountancy & Finance, Commerce & Industry: Newly qualified Accountants and Analysts, credit control and collections specialists, Management Accountants, Cost Accountants as well as Financial or Performance Analysts with a NZCA qualification are all sought this quarter.

• Hays Accountancy & Finance, Professional Practice: Demand in the professional practice market remains high for Business Advisory Services and Audit candidates. Tax specialists are also sought, particularly those with training gained from working within the Big 4.

• Hays Architecture: Experienced Architectural Technicians with strong design and REVIT skills are wanted as the market moves towards REVIT and is expected to be REVIT driven in just a few years. Interior Designers are wanted in Auckland in addition to ArchiCAD specialists to work on a number of commercial projects.

• Hays Banking: Almost all demand is for permanent roles where skills and organisational knowledge need to be retained. We are seeing specific plans to hire and vacancies for Private Bankers, Wealth Advisors, Risk Advisors and Mortgage Advisors.

• Hays Construction: Construction Project Managers with major contractor experienced gained in New Zealand are sought in the Wellington market. Also needed are Civil Project Managers with infrastructure experience and Civil Engineers and Quantity Surveyors to help with a number of new civil roading and highway projects within the commercial and construction sector.

• Hays Contact Centres: Customer service staff across all levels remain in high demand, particularly for solid tenure Telesales/Account Manager candidates. Most of these roles will be permanent but we will also see a number of temporary roles becoming available to fill gaps.

• Hays Energy: Project Managers and Supervisors, Glove and Barrier Line Mechanics and Protection Technicians are in demand across New Zealand’s energy sector following renewed investment and spending. Also sought are Transmission Line Engineers at the intermediate and senior level for a number of infrastructure projects around the Canterbury region.

• Hays Engineering: Intermediate and senior level Engineers and Infrastructure Structural Designers are being recruited for structural engineering consultancies to assist with a national seismic assessment of all New Zealand buildings. In addition, Structural Engineers, Geotechnical Engineers and network maintenance contractors and Engineers with asset management experience are also in demand.

• Hays Facilities Management: Electrical or mechanically-minded Facilities Managers are needed, particularly those that have a clear understanding of the commercial construction process. There has also been a rise in demand for highly skilled HVAC Services Engineers and HVAC Controls Engineers. Experienced commercial Facilities Managers are also wanted following an increase in business.

• Hays Human Resources: Experienced Internal Recruiters are wanted to assist companies with their growth plans. There has also been an increase in demand for experienced HR Co-ordinators and Administrators along with Generalist HR Advisors and HR Managers following more movement within the market. Learning and Development also remains an area of focus.

• Hays Information Technology: Key IT shortages are being seen in the mid-level software development sector, particularly around Java, Sharepoint and web based integration technology. Also needed are ERP / CRM Consultants (MS Dynamics, Oracle), experienced Architects across all sectors and Web Developers with a variety of different technologies and Database Administrators in Oracle and SQL.

• Hays Insurance: Claims staff are needed for both permanent and fixed term contract roles in all regions, particularly commercial claims due to the continual demand raised by Christchurch and bad weather which is causing flooding and other damage. Also needed are Loss Adjustors, mainly within the Christchurch market as a result of the ongoing work created by the earthquake.

• Hays Legal: Commercial litigation, banking and finance, corporate/commercial (including M&A) and employment Lawyers are needed in New Zealand’s legal sector. Candidates with experience from top tier or large firms are most in demand. Most activity is occurring within mid tier firms where demand is highest for candidates with three to five years experience up to Senior Associate level.

• Hays Office Support: Team Administrators, Project Administrators, Document Controllers and Corporate Receptionists are needed to assist with the roll out of the Ultra Fast Broadband initiative and in general to support teams to achieve business growth. The Christchurch rebuild is driving demand for Project Coordinators, PA/EAs, Contract Administrators/Managers, Legal Secretaries, Site Administrators, Claims Administrators and Office Managers.

• Hays Property: New Zealand’s property sector continues to experience demand for Property Managers and experienced Quantity Surveyors. There has also been an increase in demand for Relationship Managers/Contracts Managers to rebuild and maintain supplier relationships.

• Hays Resources & Mining: We continue to note a high demand for qualified and experienced Heavy Diesel Mechanics nationwide. The shortage will only deepen as the Christchurch civil market begins to gain momentum. The start of the new Denniston Mine will also impact the availability of candidates as it looks to acquire new mechanical teams.

View the full Hays Quarterly Report at www.hays.net.nz/report from Wednesday 4 April, 2012.

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

About Hays
Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. We are the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in Asia Pacific and the UK and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

As at 31 December 2011, Hays employed 7,988 staff operating from 247 offices in 31 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2011, Hays reported net fees of £672 million and operating profit of £114 million and placed around 60,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 190,000 people into temporary assignments. 31% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific.

Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the United Kingdom and the USA.

ENDS

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