New Zealander workers abandon Christchurch - but job openings are rising

• Reduction in figures due to skilled workers moving out;
• Significant number of vacancies across Canterbury, but capability lacking;
• Off-shoring is taking place as New Zealanders won’t relocate to Canterbury.

According to New Zealand’s leading recruiter, job opportunities are strong in Christchurch and the underlying issue is not a shortage of jobs but a lack of New Zealanders willing to fill them.

“Last week many people pointed to an unpredictable outlook for Christchurch as the reason for the rise in the unemployment rate in the three months to September,” said Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.

“But our experience at the coal face tells us the issue is that skilled workers are moving out of the Canterbury region. At the same time as these professionals leave, we are registering a significant number of vacancies across all disciplines, particularly over the last few weeks.

“As a result skills shortages are appearing, and offshore recruitment activity is taking place because it is very difficult to convince New Zealanders from other regions to relocate to Canterbury. This is most obvious for white collar roles.

“At the moment, the only interest from outside the region is from people seeking re-build work. But these projects are yet to commence and the rebuild is yet to generate the large number of jobs we are expecting.

“When these projects do get underway, we’ll also see demand rise in corporate organisations for professionals in accountancy, IT and office administration.”

According to Jason, two other issues are impacting the unemployment rate in Canterbury. “It’s very difficult to attract locals to new opportunities at the moment. The stress of last year has been significant and many people do not want to add to that stress by changing employers right now. So market momentum and turnover is low.”

“Employers are looking at ways they can retain anxious employees within the business as many individuals look to move on from Christchurch, which is proving to be quite a challenge. We have seen a number of companies transferring employees to temporary premises outside of the Canterbury region.

“But with so many staff continuing to occupy these temporary premises it is quickly reducing available floor space, and leading to less employees being brought onboard as the inability to accommodate them is becoming increasingly evident.

“Other companies have taken to finding opportunities for staff in alternative offices elsewhere in New Zealand. Most employees, in these instances, have then begun to establish their new lives in those communities and ultimately become reluctant to return to the region.”

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