New Zealand targets UK tech workers

New Zealand's plan to help its own recruitment woes could fuel UK skill crisis

The New Zealand government has today pledged to tackle its own IT skills shortage - by plunging UK IT recruitment further into crisis.

The four leading IT employers in New Zealand – EDS, IBM, Synergy and Telecom New Zealand – will join forces at this weekend's Opportunities NZ Expo in London in an attempt to fill their current vacancies with UK-based IT staff.

Richard Ninness of the New Zealand Department of Labour said the move was part of a wider strategy to encourage UK IT staff to emigrate to New Zealand. “The IT industry is expecting to need about 35,000 more skilled recruits over the next 10 years, and obviously not all those people are going to come from New Zealand, so the UK has been targeted to help fill the gap,” he said in a statement.

A New Zealand government spokesman said the four employers had up to 300 roles they were aiming to fill this weekend. He added that UK IT professionals interested in emigrating would be unlikely to face too many administrative barriers. "As IT staff are highly skilled workers the visa process is quite smooth," he explained.

The New Zealand government hopes IT professionals will be attracted to the country by its world-renowned landscape and high quality of life. A recent government survey found 93 percent of new migrants enjoyed New Zealand life while 94 percent claimed they would recommend a move to the country.

However, the government argues that there are also good career prospects for experienced IT staff who remain a scarce commodity in the New Zealand job market.

"If you look at the companies involved in this initiative they are good global firms that can offer great career prospects," added the government spokesman.

The move is likely to infuriate UK IT skills and training agencies that have been investing heavily in trying to address the UK's own widening skills gap.

Chris Bartlett, managing director of IT recruitment specialist GCS, said the growth in demand for IT staff globally coupled with candidate shortages across the developed world meant there were likely to be more cross-border recruitment initiatives in the future, particularly between countries with no language barrier.

However, he argued that such schemes are unlikely to appeal to people who are not already receptive to the idea of emigrating.

Bartlett added that given the scale of IT skills shortages both in the UK and internationally, firms should redouble efforts to ensure their current IT team is retained. "IT people are notorious for getting bored, which means employers need to be continuously working to ensure IT staff are motivated and inspired if they are going to retain them," he said.