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​The IT industry has displayed an increased vigour since the turn of the century. The world has seen radical changes, with technology touching just about everything in everyday life. For the last two decades, there have been some outstanding advancements taking place, including the evolution of devices to be more portable, accessible and personal. Social media, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, tablets, smartwatches, fitness trackers, wireless earphones, electric cars and much more – we now live in a truly Sci-Fi world! This explosion in technological advancements has resulted in unique, multi-layered and hybrid career options across a range of industries. Couple that with the pandemic, and we are now seeing a shift in role types, salary expectations and skills availability. A Growing Breadth of Expertise Last year, we braced for the impacts of a raging pandemic, which led to radical changes in the way we work. The new normal now includes less travelling, more remote and flexible working, work/life balance, increased collaboration and, more importantly, the emergence of hybrid/evolved roles. I have had conversations with contractors and candidates alike about how they are now focused on growing their capabilities and skills, with many embracing skills upgrade programs from providers such as LinkedIn Learning and Udemy to broaden their skills. Consequently, there has been a shift from “I-Shaped” expertise (a good depth of skill and knowledge limited to a single discipline) to “T-shaped” expertise (a good depth of skill and knowledge in one discipline, along with a reasonable breadth of skill knowledge across other disciplines). For example, where we had Backend Developers specialising only in integrations and core product development, we now have professionals with skills across the stack and cloud (proficiently). When asked the reason for this shift, one candidate noted that time spared from travelling, for instance, has been invested in creative personal projects and self-learning. Another professional pointed out that through the massive restructures observed last year, they utilised their time between roles to upgrade their capabilities. Making the Most of Available Skills Overall, there has been an exponential growth in capabilities observed in professionals across specialisations. As a result, employers seeking talent are utilising this by introducing hybrid opportunities. Testers who can develop, Developers who can work with infrastructure, hands-on leaders, Support Engineers who can develop and configure are just some of the many shifts in new requirements observed over the last year. With border restrictions and the shortage of talent coming into the country, professionals are also making the most of their capabilities by engaging in challenging and rewarding roles. Where an interview was once a one-way discussion with employers taking the lead, we now are observing a two-way conversation where potential employees are investigating if the position in question offers a complete utilisation of their capabilities. I feel this is only just the beginning. For employers, providing plenty of scope and opportunities for advancement will be important to attract the talent they need, and for those professionals who have yet to upskill, the time is now! If you’d like further insights into how capabilities are changing in the IT sector or if you need hiring or job search, feel free to reach out to me today.

The New Zealand employment market has flipped on its head in recent months, with widespread candidate shortages and a huge demand for skilled people making recruiting in 2021 a major challenge. Both business leaders and recruitment professionals are affected as much as any other part of the workforce as they struggle to recruit and retain talented Technology & Digital employees in an increasingly competitive landscape.So, what can we do to combat the candidate shortage and win the war for talent?Candidate is KingAs we continue to navigate a rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations will need the best people on board to help them rebuild and seize any opportunity that may arise in the future. However, we are currently facing a severe talent shortage, with skilled people becoming harder to secure and hold onto.New Zealand has fared well economically and demand for talent is at an all-time high, but in many sectors, particularly IT, the supply of talent is at an all-time low due to the borders being shut with no opening date in sight. Skilled individuals are being actively pursued by multiple organisations and presented with new opportunities weekly, as well as receiving counter offers with their current companies as they try to hold onto good staff.The issue is exacerbated further by the uncertainty caused by sudden lockdowns which has made some people​​ hesitant to change jobs, preferring the security of remaining in their current roles. Additionally, many candidates are well aware of the scarcity of talent, driving them to seek notably larger salary increases, more flexibility and greater responsibility when they do decide to look for new opportunities.If there’s one thing that’s clear, it is that in this market, the candidate is king – and recruitment and retention efforts must adapt accordingly.The Battle to Retain Talent​Loyalty is fickle in the battle to retain talent, so identifying strategies to hold onto your best people is essential. We are seeing clients approach this in a variety of ways. With the seismic shift that COVID-19 triggered in 2020, organisations are adopting new ways of working, whether it is embracing hybrid models or ​​boldly reimagining the office environment to create a greater sense of belonging and comfort for employees. Savvy employers are offering training and development, interesting project work, flexible working, staff engagement surveys, salary reviews and team-building initiatives in order to improve staff engagement and retention rates.Many government, tertiary and health organisations that can’t match the rising salaries or offer other costly benefits are trying to compete by offering a culture and flexible working options that most private organisations cannot match. They are providing work/life balance to the extreme, allowing employees to start earlier or later while working from home on any given day to make room for their personal lives outside of work. Consequently, their employees are so grateful and comfortable that many don’t want to entertain other roles with less autonomy.However employers choose to tackle retention, the key is to respond to employees’ changing expectations to ensure the work environment continues to keep them satisfied in their role and less likely to explore other opportunities.Strategies to Fill VacanciesWhen it comes to successfully securing the talent they need in this competitive market, businesses will need to provide the right candidate offering, be more flexible and ensure the hiring process is as effective as it can be. The following strategies can help boost your chances of landing your ideal candidates.​​Being flexible with requirementsClients are becoming much more lenient towards exploring candidates that don’t necessarily match the requirements of their vacancies closely. Instead, they are opening up the talent pool by taking a deeper look at candidates that have potential, an aptitude to learn and the right attitude (that can’t be taught!).There are many types of candidates who haven’t typically received a lot of traction in the market, but may now prove to be invaluable opportunities to access sought-after skillsets. We regularly speak with candidates who are older, have had a career break or an unusually long tenure at one organisation, and cannot find a way back into their field because they are deemed not to be up to speed with the latest tech.These candidates often have to go for considerably more junior roles and work their way back to their previous position, or even transition to an entirely different industry. However, there are huge advantages to expanding the talent pool to include these people, as they can add plenty of value to a business if given the chance (feel free to reach out to our Technology, Transformation & Digital team if you’d like to discuss this further and look at some of the candidate profiles we have available).In contracting, meanwhile, flexibility with the role criteria is slightly harder, as clients typically want people who already possess all the skills. Nevertheless, the choice between waiting for the perfect person vs. taking a close match who can learn and be productive is now being weighed up in every engagement.Making roles attractive to top candidatesQuality candidates can be very particular about when they work, what they work on, what their title is and more. This is because they have the power to choose. As a result, it’s vital for employers to identify candidates’ preferences and expectation when hiring – and there is no one-size-fits-all. Some candidates want everything to go back to the way it was before, while others want more flexibility than ever and will not consider going back to a full-time, office-based role.With salaries being driven up by the fierce competition for talent New Zealand-wide (and not just in the bigger cities), hiring managers and their recruitment partners must understand which monetary and non-monetary benefits are most valued by candidates in order to attract great people.Organisations experiencing COVID-19 induced digital transformation are able to offer project work that can be particularly attractive to skilled candidates stuck in BAU roles. These digital transformation projects can have a tremendous impact on employer brand, which ​​in turn can aid recruitment by building up hype around the project. Candidates will often want that project on their CVs and will pick the high-profile project over a less exciting role, which can help with positioning your organisation as an employer of choice.Streamlining the hiring processTop candidates have so many opportunities in front of them that they will be put off by drawn-out recruitment processes, multiple rounds of interviews, large delays between steps and not offering remote interviewing.Providing an efficient hiring process with excellent communication throughout will be crucial in this market, so it’s a good idea to identify any areas where you can cut out extra steps, consolidate interviews and be proactive in working with your recruiter in order to provide a positive candidate experience.Getting help from the professionalsAdvertising vacancies on job boards is almost entirely redundant as the market is so busy that opportunities are finding people rather than the other way around, which has turned every recruitment process into a targeted headhunting operation. Add to this the higher salary and contracting rate expectations and notability harder negotiations with candidates, and it’s no wonder that hiring has become so challenging.This is where a recruitment partner such as Beyond Recruitment can provide significant value. As specialist recruiters, our unique searching techniques include a market presence across social media and job boards. We also ask for referrals from clients, candidates and contractors, and actively tap into the organisations with known skills. Deep-dive searching using an ever-expanding range of tools, keeping informed of organisational restructures to ensure we proactively engage with potential talent and keeping on top of our specialist silos are a few of the activities that ensure faster delivery to the jobs in hand.Want to learn more about how we help organisations like yours win the war for talent and get access to exclusive, market-leading candidates? Get in touch today to discuss your options.​  

The challenges of the current environment, particularly in the international arena, have triggered an influx of New Zealanders returning home from overseas in recent months – a phenomenon widely known as the “brain gain.” While this deluge of talent could be the answer to skill gaps in many industries, the exact impact of these returnees on the economy and employment market is yet to be seen, with some people continuing to work remotely for foreign organisations, and others seeking opportunities to apply highly specialised or senior expertise in New Zealand or even starting their own businesses.   In this recent article published by Stuff featuring Ben Pearson, experts from a range of sectors weighed in on what this Kiwi homecoming could mean for the economy and what we might expect to see in the coming months.  Alternatively, you can view the full article below (originally published on Stuff.co.nz). New Zealand's brain gain: The talented Kiwis coming home amid Covid-19 chaos  STUFF They’re entrepreneurs and environmentalists, doctors and teachers, fashion designers and tech whizzes. And they’re coming home. For decades, New Zealand has struggled with “brain drain” as young professionals flocked overseas in search of adventure and glitz – and much fatter pay packets. Little old Godzone was lovely for Christmas, but couldn’t hold a candle to the opportunities of London, New York or Sydney. But now an international pandemic is doing what years of marketing campaigns and parents’ entreaties could not: it’s reversing the decades-long trend of seeing tens of thousands of talented young Kiwis leaving this country each year. It’s the year of brain gain. The Kiwi re-pats who settle in Wellington are not just competing for houses and restaurant bookings, they’re also bringing their experience and their skills, contributing to the capital’s economy and vibrance. “My plans being back are focused on building the team here in Wellington,” said Ben Gleisner, the founder of sustainability app CoGo, who’s returned from London. “When we arrived, we had around four staff, but now that’s grown to 21.” The numbers are still trickling in but initial indications, and plenty of anecdotal evidence, suggest that they’re coming back in droves. They are the semi-skilled and those who’ve been away for a short time, and experienced professionals at the peak of their careers. Some have taken advantage of the worldwide shift to working from home and meeting online -- overcoming the tyranny of distance -- while others have come home because of the safety of New Zealand compared to other places that have been ravaged by the coronavirus outbreak. “New Zealand is a very attractive place to be right now,” said Ruth Harley, chief executive of New Zealand on Air. “In the film and entertainment industry, we have definitely seen a shift in people returning.” Between April and August, a net total of 1700 people moved to New Zealand, according to Stats NZ estimates. That included 1029 in July alone -- an astonishing achievement given that New Zealand’s borders were closed and the number of international flights had dropped dramatically. Economists and business leaders in Wellington are excited about what this could mean for the capital. “We want that talent to be staying in our city ... to deliver our future,” said John Allen, chief executive of WellingtonNZ, the capital’s economic promotion agency. More Kiwis are expected to return home as more flights become available. These people coming home will likely be in a better position to start businesses and contribute needed skills in professional industries, said Alan Bollard, the former Reserve Bank governor who now runs the Pacific Region Business centre at Victoria University. “I think the returnees will have a positive but complicated impact on the economy; it depends on how many of them end up staying, and the skills they have,” said Bollard, who returned from Singapore in 2018 after running the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat there for six years. The impact has so far been mostly felt in the housing market, where cashed-up returning Kiwis and expats still abroad are competing with first-home buyers and others looking to take advantage of record-low interest rates. Tommy’s Wellington real estate agent Tim Clark said that Kiwi expats are snapping up houses sight unseen. Some will not have set foot in those properties until they are handed the keys, he says, describing family members coming through houses on video calls with buyers abroad. New technology means “people can be sitting in London, measure the size of the couch they are sitting on and drop it into the floor plan of a house in Khandallah”, he said, adding that they’re doing it in much greater numbers than ever before. That’s likely to be great news for the person selling that house in Khandallah, but not so much for the first-time home-buyers also entering the market. “We have seen more of them [returnees] enter the market, where they weren’t there before,” Clark said, “and these people will absolutely be making things harder for everybody.” That pressure is hurting in Wellington’s housing market, but not in its job market. Economists estimate that a quarter of those coming back are working remotely in their jobs, so won’t be competing with locals. Returning Kiwis are instead more likely to create jobs, said Massey University sociologist Paul Spoonley. “I think many of those coming back are millennials, and I don’t think they are going to be employees,” he said. “I think they are going to be business owners and involved in new start-ups.” They’re people like Gleisner, the app developer, and Frances Shoemack, who founded a natural perfume company in the Netherlands but came home early this year. “Since coming back we've set up an office on Garrett St and I am looking at expanding the team,” she said. “I would be interested in eventually opening a perfume showroom here.” Still, Adecco chief executive Teresa Moore said her company had seen “a marked increase in Kiwis planning to return home, including increased general enquiries from overseas”. “They tend to be coming mainly from the UK market and their experience sits more in a senior management, white-collar level,” she said. Ben Pearson of Beyond Recruitment, which specialises in a range of professional, specialist roles, said many Kiwis were “not quite ready to say everything is going to custard” abroad just yet and move home for good. New Zealand’s size is still a problem that not even Covid-19 can challenge. “The scale and size of the projects and the organisations here in New Zealand can be unattractive to those workers,” he said. “I think a lot of them would be leaving some money on the table.” Plus, there are continued skill shortages in sectors where New Zealand tends to lean on immigrants from other countries, like the civil construction industry, transport, logistics, and manufacturing. Allen and the team at WellingtonNZ were trying their best to make sure the capital could hold on to as much talent as possible. That means making “sure people understand that Wellington is a dynamic city”, he said. “We have to ensure that the city continues to be attractive, in terms of events, in terms of the arts, bike trails ... we are going to need to do some work on affordable housing,” Allen said, adding that the region’s growing infrastructure issues were also a challenge. Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford agreed that convincing talented returnees to stay was important. “From a skillset point of view, you have to view it positively,” Milford said, but added it could be a challenge. “That is a concern from a number of industries,” he said. “Once we get the vaccine and the border with Australia open, there’s always the potential that we could be losing people to Australia, and not just those people who are returning.” Reports coming into the KEA, an organisation that tries to connect the New Zealand diaspora, suggest that many of the returnees are coming back for good. “They are selling up houses, they are moving children, they are coming home with pets,” said Toni Truslove, chief executive officer of KEA. That means New Zealand should plan for a tsunami of talent. “I’d like to think that there would be some really smart initiatives put in place,” Truslove said. “There is a balancing act between Kiwis being able to come home but a management around essential and shared resources, so that their coming home remains a positive to New Zealand, not a drain on resources.” Julie Fry, a Kiwi economist trying to find her own way home from her family’s base in New York, said the influx would be both a “massive shock” and a major opportunity. There will be “transitional costs” for resources, including housing, healthcare, transport and schooling,” she said. “But once we shake these out, we will have a bunch of people with more senior experience who are going to be coming back and going for it. The net result is going to be fantastic.”

The impact of COVID-19 on New Zealand businesses has been wildly uneven. New Zealand has fared well but sadly has not been spared from the economic impact. While many companies have found it exceptionally difficult during this period, there are a considerable number of organisations who have never had it so good. The IT sector, for example, has done much better than other white-collar sectors and will have continued job growth, but still faces its own unique challenges in this economy. Across the board, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on employment and recruitment practices, and it’s becoming clear that things won’t go back to the way they were.  As a seasoned recruitment professional specialising in Technology, Transformation and Digital roles, I have seen a number of opportunities and obstacles beginning to emerge for IT recruitment in New Zealand’s current economy. The availability of local talent, the expectations of candidates regarding remote and flexible working, and what your competitors are offering potential new hires have all changed radically. Whether you are hiring as per usual, facing a hiring freeze or facing an increase in hiring, you will likely need to revise your recruitment strategy to fit with the rapidly changing market brought about by COVID-19. Here’s what you need to know to secure the best talent in this new era: Widening Skills Shortages We explored the New Zealand IT sector’s skills shortage prior to COVID-19 in an earlier blog, where we determined that New Zealand has a significant and growing skill-shortage in this sector. Before COVID-19, we had around 5000 immigrants coming to New Zealand each year on IT-related work visas, and with borders shut, the shortage has widened. Many media outlets have painted the picture of a “brain-gain” for New Zealand with returning Kiwis, but the reality is that many of these highly skilled people who have pursued careers overseas have done so in order to engage with industries or technologies that just aren’t mature in New Zealand, so they are returning with skills that are often not a good match for the vacancies available. This gap puts significant pressure on businesses to attract and retain skilled IT professionals and calls for them to rethink their recruitment strategies. Initially, some businesses in the regions benefitted tremendously from being some of the first employers to kick off massive recruitment drives, snapping up highly skilled individuals who had been working for businesses heavily impacted by COVID-19. Some of the most successful recruitment drives were seen during the height of Level 4 in the Waikato, with an overwhelming number of IT Managers reporting they had never seen such a volume of high calibre talent actively looking for work and keen to relocate to the region, filling vacancies in record times. However, as we now enter one of the busiest times of the year for recruitment, this hiring frenzy has been replaced by fierce competition for a shrinking talent pool and employers are growing increasingly more creative and flexible to attract the skills they need to keep moving forward. The Rise in Remote/Partially Remote Working To cope with the uncertain economic climate and skills shortage, organisations will need to become more open to working with remote and partially remote workers. Because of COVID-19, recruitment strategies are pivoting to focus on hiring candidates for flexible roles that can also be done from home. Previously, I would often be contacted by high-calibre remote contractors asking me to keep them informed of any opportunities to work remotely, and I would tell them honestly that these types of roles were rare. Candidates not available for full-time onsite work were almost never shortlisted by my clients for interviews. For many IT roles, partial and even full-time remote work will be part of the new normal, and we are now placing partially remote and fully remote contract, permanent and fixed-term employees on a weekly basis. There are long-term benefits to having a more flexible workforce that will last well after this period is over. Flexible jobs help diversify teams by keeping parents – especially women – in leadership roles. Shifting to a more flexible workforce can also help companies save money by only paying people for the work needed at the moment during these turbulent times and beyond. The Growing Popularity of Contract and Temporary Workers The rise in remote, flexible, and temporary work is not only due to the growing demand from the candidate market. Unsurprisingly, many of the country’s top employers are responding to the financial challenges of COVID-19 by focusing on cost-saving measures. A big part of this is opting for temporary or contract workers to augment their professional teams. This will give them access to the experience and skills they require, without the high investments that come with recruiting and training permanent employees. There’s no question that opting for contractors and temporary staff will result in cost and time efficiency, as well as supplementing necessary skill sets. While temp staff can fill an immediate need at short notice, contractors are often skilled, specialised workers and could give your company high-level expertise without you having to commit to a large salary and recruitment and training costs. Contractors are great for assisting with a spike of work or for supporting a specific project – for example, a contractor might provide software development expertise to increase your business’ digitisation or improve your e-commerce platform. These types of workers allow your business to scale up and down without the risks and obligations associated with a permanent hire. In addition, employers are also able to enjoy access to world-class talent that may not be available to them on a full-time, onsite basis. As organisations attempt to build blended, flexible workforces, contracting and temp work will expand to new industries and role types. And while there is no one-size-fits-all solution around alternative work arrangements, employers will need to update their policies if they’re going to attract and retain staff with hard-to-find skills. Attracting Top Talent with Your Employer Brand The key thing to remember when hiring any kind of worker is that while you are interviewing them (and they are interviewing you), they are also interviewing with other companies. If you’re hiring anyone with a senior or niche IT skillset, you can safely assume that you aren’t the only company vying for their attention. And while you can’t control who else the candidate is interviewing with or what those companies are offering, you can strengthen your own employer brand. As the country began to recover, more businesses started recruiting and competition has grown fierce, with the focus shifting from the dream-candidates who initially hit the market due to redundancies, to a fierce battle for the passive candidate market. Passive candidates don’t engage the same way as active candidates, their motivators and hesitations are different, they don’t negotiate the same and they don’t have the same level of commitment to the interview process. This means that what companies are offering needs to be enticing and compelling, and recruitment processes need to be flexible and efficient. Passive candidates, or those who are headhunted, will shy away from businesses with a poor employer brand or companies that they perceive to be at risk for restructuring, particularly if they are currently in a stable role. Many in-demand candidates are doing their research and speaking to their network before they’ll agree to go to the first interview, and sometimes even right up to the offer stage. To make yourself more attractive as an employer, try to offer as much job security as you can. Be honest and treat people well. Your business recovery and future growth are still reliant on your team’s performance and your reputation in the market. Your current staff, past staff and your job applicants can have a major impact on how desirable an employer you are perceived to be. The Candidate Experience To maintain your reputation in the employment market, it is essential that you provide a great candidate experience and ensure that anyone rejected from the process leaves with the feeling of “Gosh, I really wanted that job. What a great company it would be to work for.” Providing a great candidate experience is the key to attracting the best people. How do you know if you’re providing a great candidate experience? Look to your offer acceptance rate for an answer. Your offer acceptance rate is one of the best indicators that your recruitment experience is meeting candidate expectations. Maintaining a positive experience throughout and setting clear expectations from the outset is crucial for closing the deal and convincing a candidate to accept your offer. Likewise, a long, drawn-out recruitment process will put candidates off. If they’ve been headhunted, they might not be willing to take three days off work for three separate interviews and travel across town to meet you in person. Luckily, employers and candidates alike have had a crash course in video interviewing and are becoming increasingly comfortable with conducting the process remotely. This allows employers to streamline their process and interview many more candidates in a shorter space of time, meaning they can make decisions faster and secure the talent they want ahead of their competitors. In Summary Access to talent and looking after your employer brand has never been more important than it is today. Be sure your recruitment partners are invested in protecting your employer brand and share your values around giving a good candidate experience. By adapting to the market and making these things a priority, you will be in the best position to secure the people you need. If you’re looking for high-quality Technology, Transformation and Digital talent, feel free to reach out to me – I’d be happy to help you find the people your business needs during this time.