What The Papers Say

MEDIA RELEASE

4 October 2007

“It’s great in the Waikato,” BDC tells Brits

The huge Waikato business machine risks revving slower without more skilled labour to keep its wheels turning.

However, help is at hand from Hamilton’s Business Development Centre (BDC), an operating arm of economic development agency, The Katolyst Group.

BDC is now looking to the other side of the world to keep the Waikato on the chart as one of the country’s fastest growing, productive regions by forming a partnership with UK immigration organisation New Life New Zealand.

New Life New Zealand is based in Hamilton with contacts in the UK and acts as a one stop shop for people wanting to move here from there.

The BDC partnership with New Life New Zealand is a departure from previous passive, “take what comes along” attempts to get overseas labour that often has employers wading through immigration headaches and piles of CVs.

The initiative gives local employers a targeted approach to finding suitable employees in the UK, with the legwork of selection and suitability already dealt with.

Interested workers in the UK pay a small fee to have their CVs registered with the company, while here in Hamilton the New Life New Zealand office liaises with local businesses, identifying their exact requirements in staff.

There is no charge for Waikato businesses to use the service to find staff. The Waikato region also benefits from having recruiters singing its praises on the ground in the UK.

“New Life New Zealand runs industry specific seminars over there, for example focussing on the aeronautical industry, delivering the message about Hamilton to exactly the right audience.”

At these seminars a coffee table book is distributed with advertisements and profiles of local businesses and schools in it.

BDC general manager Sandra Perry says interest has been huge from local enterprises wanting to be a part of it.

The BDC partnership with New Life New Zealand means a huge database of over 4000 people in the UK who have expressed an interest in moving to New Zealand now exists.

From here the focus goes on those “ready to step onto the plane”, highlighting the advantages of living in a thriving, well serviced region like the Waikato.

Sandra Perry says few outside of New Zealand appreciate the depth and breadth of Hamilton’s industry that stretches across agri-science, education, health, engineering and professional services whilst offering huge lifestyle options within only an hour’s travel.

New Life New Zealand has already placed six new workers in the last few weeks and the effort represents only one of a three pronged approach to dealing with the region’s skills crisis.

The BDC partnership with New Life New Zealand is part of a wider strategy to tackle the region’s skills gap issues which was begun by The Katolyst Group in 2006.

“In the past, Hamilton particularly has not had to do much to seek the people needed to fill positions. Now we need to compete with other regions for those skills, and Hamilton is not that well known overseas.

“Katolyst began a project last year – dubbed SkillWISE Katolyst – to work with industry to tackle the region’s skill shortage issues. The Business Development Centre’s promotion of the region to UK immigrants is a key part of this project’s strategic plan,” says Katolyst CEO, Graham Smith.

For added credibility New Life New Zealand is fronted by a man who can walk the talk when it comes to encouraging Brits to migrate to the Waikato and Hamilton.

New Life New Zealand business development manager Paul Goddard lives in the Waikato, but hails from Coventry, and now considers himself a converted Kiwi.

He is well aware of the misconceptions surrounding Hamilton among overseas people.

Many tend to blend into Auckland, and he keenly pushes the huge benefits a move to the Waikato region brings new immigrants. He was typical of many UK immigrants who arrived in New Zealand and opted for a better known region before ending up in Hamilton.

When he initially moved here four years ago Paul became the subject of a hugely popular UK television show “Get a New Life”, following his move to Tauranga.

“However we found Hamilton fitted more with my family’s personal interests, with its music scene and student population and we have not looked back since moving across the Kaimais.”

More information on immigrant employment can be found on New Life New Zealand website www.newlifenewzealand.com

EMPLOYER ALERT

Four points about taking on a ‘Brit’:

-it’s not only Vegemite you have to get used to

Paul Goddard has worn both hats in the immigration business. He came over as one from the UK, and he now spends much time interviewing and backgrounding fellow Brits keen to make the move here.

Paul has some pertinent points employers need to be aware of when looking there for more staff.

Migration eligibility – While the skills may be there, the person may not be eligible to come to New Zealand. Are there personal or health reasons that may work against them, despite the skills they may obviously have?

Local knowledge – Are they able to find their way around before they get here without the stress of new home, work and town overwhelming them, before they even start?

Family – How well is the whole family, not just the breadwinner, going to settle here?

“You would question trying to settle someone from a big city like Manchester into a small place like Twizel when they have teenage kids – what are the odds of everyone being happy?,” says Paul.

Workplace adjustment –The “everyone mucks in” attitude of Kiwis in the workplace is quite different from the more heavily demarcated nature of the UK workplace where everyone keeps within their specific task.

“One of the beauties of New Zealand is you may find the CEO washing up the cups in the coffee room, that is part of our culture, but quite unheard of at home,” says Paul.

Monday, 03 December 2007

Honest approach to immigration

A Waikato company is finding success helping would-be Kiwis, reports Wayne Timmo.

New Life New Zealand might sound like a church, but Paul Goddard says the immigration company has learned not to paint the Waikato as heaven on earth to would-be Kiwis.

Business development manager Mr Goddard said while most Britons moved to New Zealand for lifestyle reasons, the company put honesty first with its clients.

"We tell them you will have a mortgage and you will have bills and your wages will be lower. You are not going to be loaded and spend all your time fishing on a boat."

New Life New Zealand was started 2 years ago by Irishman Connor Brady, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1996 and watched new migrants struggle to settle.

The company helps would-be Kiwis with immigration applications and matches them to the New Zealand employers on its database.

Mr Goddard and his family came to New Zealand in 2003, with their move made into a BBC television show which attracted five million viewers.

The family settled in Tauranga, where Mr Goddard operated a mobile car grooming franchise. "Although Tauranga was great we were coming over (to Hamilton) for events. It all seemed to be happening over here," he said.

The family moved to Hamilton and Mr Goddard worked in a government-funded role helping immigrants settle before taking the position of business development manager with New Life NZ.

Although other recruitment agencies and immigration consultants were in the market, Mr Goddard said New Life was the only company dealing with both ends of the chain. Applicants paid to register their CV with the company. New Life then helped with finding them a job and with their immigration paperwork.

The service is free for employers looking for workers.

Three hundred Britons had registered with the company, and another 7500 were on an e-mailing list.

"That's a pool of around 35,000 people per year who are interested in moving to New Zealand that employers can tap into," Mr Goddard said.

The company received inquiries from around the world, but concentrated on marketing the Waikato to UK workers, often targeting specific industries.

A series of seminars would be held in Coventry in March to target workers with engineering skills being made redundant from the British auto industry.

The company had partnered with the Hamilton Business Development Centre to connect industries short of skills with foreign workers.

New Life is holding a get-together for all ex-pat Britons in the Waikato this Saturday, December 8, from 2pm-5pm, at The Londoner pub in Victoria St, Hamilton. RSVP to gemma@newlifenewzealand.com or phone 839 6666.

ENTERPRISE NORTHLAND : MEDIA RELEASES 2007

Northland businesses constrained by a lack of skilled workers now have a new, free tool to help overcome the skills shortage.

Enterprise Northland has formed a 12-month partnership with New Life New Zealand, a company which specialises in recruiting skilled and eligible candidates in the United Kingdom and assisting their move to New Zealand.

The latest quarterly regional labour market update, produced by the Department of Labour and the Ministry of Social Development, shows that advertised vacancies in Northland grew by 4.6 percent in the year to June 2007, compared with a 6.4 percent fall nationally.

Other national figures indicate that 42 percent of firms are having difficulty finding skilled staff, and for 19 percent, a shortage of labour was the main barrier to expanding.

Whangarei's economic development officer, Jude Thompson, said employers could list their vacancies with New Life New Zealand at no cost and would incur no placement fees.

New Life New Zealand is a “one-stop shop”, focused on attracting and working with migrants who have a skill identified on the New Zealand Government's skills shortage list.

The company provides recruitment, immigration and resettlement services, connecting overseas candidates with employers and handling visa applications once the applicant is offered a position each month, New Life New Zealand runs five employment seminars in the UK and the company also has a website and an 0800 number from the UK.

“This removes much of the complexity, legwork, cost and risk involved in recruiting staff from overseas,” said Ms Thompson. “A key advantage of New Life New Zealand is the fact that they already have a presence on the ground in the UK, and we can have input into some of their seminar locations, according to the skills that are required.

“Some people may question why we can't overcome the skills shortage by ‘growing our own' – training up new workers from within Northland,” said Ms Thompson. “The reality is that to train people effectively, every industry needs a certain proportion of experienced staff. Northland, particularly Whangarei, is growing at such a rate that we need to look elsewhere to fill the need for workers who are already skilled and qualified.

“There is a wave of people, particularly in northern England, that are very keen to relocate to New Zealand to give their children a better lifestyle.”

She added that the Whangarei District also has a settlement support co-ordinator, Ellen Altshuler to help new arrivals integrate into their new community.

Employers wishing to access the New Life New Zealand service can register vacancies on www.newlifenewzealand.com or contact Enterprise Northland.

Tight job market sees employment ads fall

By Chris Gardner

Fewer jobs are being advertised in the Waikato as the region continues to experience delcining unemployment, says a Labour Department report just out.

Advertised jobs in the area covered by Environment Waikato for the year ending September 2007 declined by 3.4 per cent, compared to the same period last year. The national fall was 2.9 per cent.

The decline in semi-skilled jobs advertised was 2.7 per cent compared to 6.7 per cent in skilled jobs.

Unemployment over the same period in the region fell by 0.7 per cent to 3.4 per cent, against a a national average of 3.7 per cent.

More people participated in the Waikato workforce than in the previous year with the region's labour force participation rate standing at 69.5 per cent compared to 69.4 per cent last year. The national average was 68.5 per cent. The Waikato labour force for the period was estimated to be 206,500.

"It's as high as it's ever been," Labour Department spokesman Brendon Gardner said.

Mr Gardner said some employers may not be advertising their jobs, instead approaching employment agencies to fill their vacancies, or they may be poaching staff directly from competitors.

"It's still a tight labour market with employers finding it difficult to find the labour they are looking for."

The problem is so great that Hamilton's Business Development Centre in Victoria St, with New Life New Zealand Ltd, is holding a seminar on November 27 on how to attract British workers to New Zealand.

Meanwhile, employers are losing the battle to keep top talent even as they offer generous pay increases of up to 5.6 per cent, a remuneration service says. The survey by employment consultancy Mercer shows organisations have upped fixed packages by a median 5.2 per cent to retain their workforce.

Professionals received more than lower level staff. They enjoyed a 5.3 per cent pay rise, with management getting 5.6 per cent, and executives 5 per cent.

Staff at lower levels gained a more modest 3.8 per cent pay increase.

Mercer also found those who moved jobs were not necessarily being attracted by money. When new employees were included in the sample the median pay increase was 3.4 per cent.

Nevertheless, voluntary staff turnover hit a record high of 18.5 per cent. "The labour market squeeze is worsening at the same time as business confidence increases," Mercer principal Martin Turner said.

"Now that things are looking up, people are leaving their jobs because they are confident they'll find a new one."

Movers and Shakers - Seminar on UK recruitment

A free seminar on how to attract British workers to your business is being hosted at the Hamilton City Council reception lounge in Garden Place at 5.30pm. Guest speaker is Paul Goddard, author of A New Life in New Zealand, who featured in the BBC TV series Get a New Life. He migrated to New Zealand from the UK in 2003 and formed New Life New Zealand to help match British workers with New Zealand jobs.

New Life targets skill shortage

Looking world-wide to target regional skill shortages and keep the Waikato on the chart as one of the country's fastest growing productive regions, Hamilton's Business Development Centre has formed a partnership with UK immigration organisation, New Life New Zealand. Based in Hamilton, New Life New Zealand has contacts in the UK, and acts as a one stop shop for people wanting to move to New Zealand. The initiative gives local employers a free and targeted approach to finding suitable employees from the UK, with the legwork of selection and suitability already dealt with. Interested workers in the UK pay a small fee to have their CVs registered with the company, while here in Hamilton the New Life New Zealand office liaises with local businesses, identifying thier exact requirements in staff. BDC general manager Sandra Perry says interest from local enterprises has been huge.

Business this Week - New Scheme

Hamilton's Business Development Centre, economic development agency Katolyst and UK immigration firm New Life New Zealand launch a scheme to market the Waikato to UK workers. Six staff have been recruited in 3 weeks.

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