Meet the Team

The 2025 Beyond Recruitment Economic & Labour Report reveals cautious optimism and resilience among New Zealand employers, despite ongoing economic uncertainty and an accelerating evolution of jobs across multiple sectors. Beyond Recruitment’s annual Economic & Labour Report provides insights into employer sentiment about the economy, hiring and the state of New Zealand's workforce. The latest report highlights a stabilisation in employer confidence since the post-pandemic recovery, with fewer organisations (58%) describing the past year as challenging, down from 71% in 2023. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations reported the highest levels of confidence, contrasting with slightly lower optimism among very large organisations (1,001+ employees). The economic slowdown emerged as the leading concern (31%) for employers, alongside rising operational costs and regulatory changes (both at 25%). Balancing cost management and growth is a central challenge, with 37% of organisations aiming to keep headcount stable, while 28% are planning headcount expansion. SMEs show the strongest appetite for workforce growth. Usage of artificial intelligence has surged, with 83% of organisations either exploring or implementing AI tools, up significantly from previous years. Despite initial fears, employers view AI as predominantly complementary to human roles, with 43% upskilling their employees to meet the demands of an AI enhanced workplace. CE of Beyond Recruitment, Liza Viz, notes, “While organisations are prudent in their hiring strategies, their resilience is clear. Employers are strategically positioning themselves to capitalise on anticipated market improvements, particularly through workforce development and increased adoption of technology like artificial intelligence (AI).” “Now is the time for employers to invest in their people and focus on future-proofing their workforce. The competition for talent will heighten once again, making skills development and building future talent pools a key priority for Aotearoa organisations.” Hybrid work models are now standard, adopted by 77% of organisations, with flexible work hours and remote options firmly established as key employee benefits. Office spaces continue to evolve, reflecting new norms rather than temporary adjustments. Other key insights from the report include: Pay rises are levelling at around 3%, with 38% of organisations planning this range of increase. Employer satisfaction with local talent is growing, with reliance on international recruitment easing. Organisations have increased their focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion within executive teams, which is considerably influencing executive search and recruitment strategies. The Beyond Recruitment Economic & Labour Report 2025 gathered responses from over 500 employment leaders nationwide, representing various sectors including government, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and professional services.As the pace of change accelerates, this year’s report offers a timely snapshot of how organisations are navigating complexity while preparing for future growth. With insights from across New Zealand, it provides a clear view of emerging workforce trends, strategic priorities, and the evolving role of technology in shaping the future of work.The full Beyond Recruitment Economic & Labour Report 2025/26 will be released on Monday 31st March.

Published Date: ​19th February 2025It can happen to anyone at any time in their career: after months or years in a role, you realise you’re less motivated to go to work than you used to be. Those morning sleep-ins become more tempting, or you find yourself increasingly bored or disengaged at work. You may even be saying out loud, ‘I hate my job!’ We see professionals from all kinds of backgrounds finding themselves in a rut at some point in their career. For some, the initial excitement of a new career or role may wear off after a few years. For others, their current path or position was one they ‘fell’ into, and it no longer feels appropriate or challenging enough. And many others simply don’t find their current job fulfilling. The dissatisfaction many people feel in their jobs is echoed in multiple surveys. PwC New Zealand has found just 51% of workers find their job fulfilling. Gallup’s workplace research shows a steady decline in job satisfaction in the past four years. Digging into its Australia and New Zealand data, Gallup found 64% are disengaged at work and 43% are actively looking for a new job.Whether you’re wondering how to figure out a career change or are just weighing up your options, these tips will get to the heart of the issue and add the spark back into your professional life.Check-in With YourselfIf you’ve fallen out of love with your job, think about what made you fall in love with it in the first place. Are those elements still present, just in another form? Look for ways to reconnect with the aspects of your job that initially attracted you to it. The big picture is just as important here. Take time to reflect on your present values and current goals. Did you pursue this career path, or did you ‘fall into it’? Consider which aspects of your career are no longer serving your interests and lifestyle. Do you feel you can be your authentic self? Think about where you would like to be within five years. Which is easier for you to imagine yourself doing – working for another company or in another field? What Energises you?Even the jobs we love have aspects that we don’t like or feel engaged with. Pay attention to any peaks and dips you experience in energy and motivation at work throughout the week. Perhaps you’re most engaged when you’re pitching to clients. Or, you might find you’re less keen on social interaction and would rather be buried in spreadsheets. These clues can give you insights into what aspects of your current role can benefit from tweaking or if you may need a larger course correction for your career. Start a ConversationFor many professionals, what can feel like dissatisfaction with their career is more a case of poor work-life balance. If you’re feeling the symptoms of burnout at work, have noticed an increase in stress, or feel overworked, it’s indeed time to have a frank conversation with your manager. After all, the best way to have your needs addressed is to speak up about them.If a conversation with your manager doesn’t lead to a positive change, you’ll have a better idea about your next move. Before you start your job hunt, it helps to have a reputable and professional New Zealand recruitment agency by your side.Take a BreakChanging your scenery for a short period can be enough to tackle those feelings of boredom at work and re-ignite your passion. Having a break for a few weeks, or even a few months, can help you draw your mind away from the rut of daily routine and allow time for those quiet realisations and reflections. Your break doesn’t have to be an expensive holiday or sabbatical, however. Focusing on simple everyday pleasures can give you that necessary mental breathing space. If you can access a longer period of time off, opportunities like secondments, training or volunteering projects could give you new sources of inspiration on what to do next. Seek out Others for Inspiration and SupportBy surrounding yourself with people who are passionate about their careers, you can have a bit of their enthusiasm rub off on you. It’s not uncommon to be influenced by others when it comes to how you regard your job or career. Aim to socialise with more people at work and in your broader network. You may find fresh inspiration and new role models to reignite your enthusiasm. Engaging with colleagues, mentors, and industry peers may give you insights into different career paths. By tapping into your network, you could also position yourself for potential opportunities that may arise through these connections.Push Yourself With New GoalsAs anyone who has lifted themselves out of a career rut will likely tell you, the key to overcoming boredom is to look for new ways to test yourself. Challenge yourself by setting new professional goals or taking on additional responsibilities. This sense of accomplishment and growth is a great confidence booster and can relight your passion for your career.Look out for learning opportunities wherever you can. Put your hand up at work for opportunities to test yourself. Attend workshops, conferences, or take up new courses to acquire new skills and knowledge. Learning and personal development can make your work more interesting and fulfilling, with the added advantage of growing your CV. Let us Help you Make the Next MoveAsking the big questions about your job and career can be daunting at times, but it’s always easier with the right help by your side. At Beyond Recruitment, we love matching people to their ideal roles and helping them get on the right career track for long-term fulfilment. We’ll help you uncover your strengths and opportunities to find a job you love. Get started on your next journey with a leading New Zealand recruitment agency - contact us today!

​Published Date: 7 Feb 2025At Beyond Recruitment, many of our team members have colourful stories to tell about making the leap to recruitment from another industry. As a former accountant who is now an accounting recruiter, my story shares a common thread with my colleagues: the desire to make a difference in people’s lives.Transitioning from accounting to recruitment wasn’t just a career shift for me; it was a decision rooted in my own journey of finding meaning in work and connecting with people. I know what it’s like to feel like a small part of a bigger system and the difference the proper support and guidance can make for people searching for their next role or hiring people for their team. Here, I’ll share what I’ve learned as an accountant who has made the transition to recruitment and how I help accounting, finance, and financial services professionals find their dream jobs in New Zealand. How I Pivoted to RecruitmentHere’s my story: I started out in accounting, but the journey that brought me into recruitment is really a testament to knowing your strengths and embracing your transferrable skills.I grew up in Ontario, Canada and went to university there, but after graduating, I moved to Calgary. Within a week of moving, I landed my first accounting contract.My experience in accounting roles has spanned everything from Assistant Accountant to Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP), with various other accounting jobs and a relationship management role in the mix. This variety of experiences has given me an insider’s understanding of the challenges employers and job seekers face in this sector. What helped me make the leap to recruitment was somewhat unexpected. I started giving presentations to the entire office, which was a far cry from sitting behind a desk. Those presentations put me in front of a wider audience, and suddenly, people were asking, "Wait, Tom works in accounting?" I had discovered a strength I could tap into. That experience gave me the confidence to step away from accounting entirely in 2015. A few years later, after getting a taste of New Zealand, I couldn’t resist; I found my footing as an accounting recruiter, joining Beyond Recruitment’s Accounting, Finance & Financial Services team.Navigating Complex Roles and Real-World Challenges In accounting, I learned early on that every role is more complex than meets the eye, no matter how clear-cut it seems at first glance. My experiences in Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable have taught me the importance of accuracy in the face of deadlines, often in high-pressure situations where even a small error could have ripple effects across the business. Working as an Assistant Accountant, I’ve had a first-hand view of financial operations on a broader scale, which has given me a deeper understanding of a company’s inner workings and financial health. One of my defining career experiences was a role that was entirely outside of traditional accounting: helping multiple marketers keep their data aligned. It was challenging work, requiring plenty of patience and resilience. From this, I learned that even the smallest pieces of data can have a major impact on an organisation. Accurate information is as valuable as the revenue it helps generate. In hindsight, I understand that success in any accounting role is rarely a straightforward line from A to B. Accounting jobs can be highly complex – a blend of the strategic and the operational. Today, as part of Beyond Recruitment’s Accounting, Finance & Financial Services team, knowing this complexity is essential for our work as a preferred supplier to public and private sector organisations. The Human Side of Accounting An accountant is someone who works tirelessly behind the scenes in every smoothly functioning organisation. Having managed data, processes, and information flow in my previous roles, I deeply empathise with accountants who go above and beyond to ensure everything runs seamlessly.It’s these professionals who often go unseen but hold critical roles in any company. And now, as an accounting recruiter, I’m passionate about helping them find the right roles where they’re valued and where their skills truly make a difference. For many accounting and finance professionals, the pressure and responsibility can be heavy. As an accountant, I’ve felt the long hours and the quiet feeling of going unnoticed. It’s these experiences that have shaped my ethos of recruiting with empathy, helping to connect accountants with organisations where they can bring their best selves to work. Going Beyond the ResumeWhen it comes to recruiting for accounting and finance roles, it’s vital to look beyond the bullet points on a candidate’s resume. A candidate’s work history is just part of the story. Accounting recruiters with industry experience can go deeper to learn how a candidate might fit into a team and help drive success. This is especially important in today’s market, where businesses are under pressure from multiple angles, and every hiring decision is critical. Through my firsthand experience working with complex data, systems, and the financial challenges organisations face, I understand the technical demands and interpersonal skills that accounting jobs require.My goal isn’t just to fill positions but to connect candidates with companies where they can thrive, be supported and make a positive impact. With my own story of navigating different roles and shifts in the jobs market, my priority is to understand how a candidate will succeed and help them connect with employers who value their contributions. An Accounting Recruiter Who Understands Both Sides An effective accounting and finance recruiter will have a mix of technical insight and empathy. Working with a recruiter who has a background in accounting means you can partner with someone who knows the demands of accounting, finance and financial services roles. The Beyond Recruitment team and I bring this knowledge and insider’s perspective to our relationships with hiring managers and candidates. But it’s not about technical know-how alone. My own journey has taught me the importance of support and human connection.I believe that great accounting recruitment goes beyond skills and resumes. It’s about finding people who’ll add value and feel fulfilled in their roles. That’s the dedication I bring to my work with employers and job seekers every day. Connect with Beyond Recruitment Whether you’re looking to hire an excellent accountant for your team or your next accounting role, Beyond Recruitment is here to support you. As a leading New Zealand recruitment agency, we have a depth of experience, insight and resources to guide you in your next hiring process or career move. Reach out to me or our team today – we’d love to help you achieve a successful outcome.

Published Date: 2nd October 2024​We recently caught up with Amanda King at NZ Post, who, less than two years ago, was a Senior Communications Advisor and is now an Organisational Development Lead. With Communications job opportunities significantly reduced in these challenging times, I thought you’d be interested in hearing the story of her successful career transition. With Amanda’s comms background, who better to tell the story than Amanda herself?Please give us a brief overview of your communications career and the areas of communications that you enjoy the most.I’ve worked in communications-related roles for most of my career. At school and university, I studied Arts – majoring in English and Film and Media. I’ve always loved telling stories and writing, so I was delighted to begin a career in communications. I started out in Central Government in 2008 in a graduate Communications Adviser role for 18 months, dabbling in writing, editing, planning and media monitoring and analysis. But my first role was cut short when I was made redundant along with the rest of our team as part of wider government funding cuts and a focus on reducing ‘spin doctors’ in the public service. The Wellington comms market in early 2010 was not great for a ‘new-to-role’ adviser, so I took the opportunity to travel for a few months and then move to Melbourne, where I quickly got a role at the Department of Primary Industries. This was a major career moment for me and where I figured out what I could handle in terms of the unexpected. I went straight into supporting comms for a major Biosecurity incident (locust plague anyone?) for a year, which required travelling around rural Victoria. It was a high-profile campaign, and I worked with the most amazing leaders who supported me to learn on the job. After the plague, I moved on to a variety of contract roles at the DPI, where I gained experience in media, social media, and internal communications.I then travelled again for six months and moved to London, where I worked for a large Cancer Support charity for four years – progressing from a Senior Strategic Comms Adviser to the Strategic Comms Manager, leading a team including internal comms. I’ve always had a passion for connecting and engaging with an internal audience as an advocate for the brand and reputation of a business. I left the UK for a bit more travel (there’s a theme here…) to return to New Zealand, where I took on the role of Comms Manager at a Crown entity leading a small team. In this role, I gained more experience in external comms, including media and stakeholder engagement and marketing campaign activity, as well as great exposure to how the Board operate and the wider government and political landscape.My role was disestablished while I was on parental leave, so I took the opportunity to reassess my new situation as a working parent and chose to return to a Senior Comms Adviser role. I joined NZ Post 4 days a week when my daughter was one – six weeks later, COVID hit. NZ Post, like many companies, went through major disruption. Comms needed to play a key role in connecting our people, helping them feel supported and safe and clear on what was happening, when, and why. I got exposure to many parts of the business through months of incident calls – it was a critical experience for me in terms of learning about our business and building relationships with many teams and leaders in a high-pressure environment.Looking back, those massive learning curves of new roles, new countries, and life changes exposed me to being uncomfortable. It’s helped build some resilience in myself and my approach to managing ambiguity and change, with some confidence that it will eventually be ok and that I will be able to navigate a different path. I’ve gone through two rounds of redundancy, and it’s not a nice experience – but it has made me stronger and made me clearer on what it is that I can contribute to make things happen and make a difference. I’ve learned I like big organisations, I like to work as part of a team, and I like to create and make things that help and support people to achieve more. That has translated well into my work in the People space.How did the job offer for a completely different specialisation come about?Three years (and another round of parental leave) later, our General Manager for Talent from the People team observed some work I was doing to explore how we best attract business owners to a new model we were looking to test in our delivery network. He was looking to fill a role focused on Talent Management for 12 months. He approached me to see if I’d be interested in applying for a secondment as he believed I had the right transferable skills to set me up for success in that role.What was your initial reaction to the proposed change?Initially, I wasn’t interested, and I didn’t think I had any of the right skills. I didn’t understand what talent management meant…so I started to explore the opportunity. I read. I listened to podcasts. I found companies and case studies that were doing interesting stuff in the space. I spoke with colleagues who had exposure to the field from previous workplaces and from within my company. I met with our Chief People Officer, with two other People GMs and I leaned on my networks to get an understanding of what was possible. What made you decide to make your career move?After a lot of talking and researching, I decided to get over myself and thought – ‘what’s the worst that can happen from taking on an opportunity to learn something new?’ I figured if someone was telling me they saw some potential in me to try something different and that I could do it and be supported to do it – then why not give it a go? So, I applied, interviewed and was successful in the secondment application. Nine months later, I applied for a permanent role in the People Experience team and am now an Organisational Development Lead.How have your skills in comms benefited your role in OD?There are loads of skills I’ve mastered through a career in comms that have helped me in this role.Comms has always helped me stay curious – and that helps when approaching anything new. Being able to articulate a solid vision, execute a strategy and bring people along on the journey are also key skills I’ve learned through comms.Going back to the basics of a good comms plan was a helpful starting point for working out my direction e.g. - defining the context (problem and opportunity), the organisational objectives, the key audiences, risks and issues and then following through on the delivery of a plan. Instigating new research and looking for existing evidence to help explore a problem and figure out where to go next is another great carryover from my comms days. I found my collaboration and relationship-building skills to be well-utilised in my new role. As a comms adviser, I could spot things that needed to be joined up – teams that needed to be engaged and brought in, and I made that happen. In addition to comms skills – I’ve realised that working on myself also plays a big role. So, keeping my mindset open and focused on learning and growth has helped me deal with setbacks and remain optimistic about the future. Being able to learn and apply that to new situations is a great skill to master, and change is a good opportunity to put that into practice. You need to work hard, though, to push through everything you need to learn – 18 months into this role, I look back and can’t believe what I’ve been able to do and what I’ve learned, and I’ve taken some big breaks to rest my brain so I can keep going.What do you love most about your role in OD?I feel that OD has really played to my strengths. I’m a very positive person, and I love to explore problems and design solutions that focus on helping others realise their potential. I get to support leaders in considering how they can get the best out of their teams and each other. And I get to be creative in my messaging and delivery to bring the work to life across NZ Post. So much of what I do is about story-telling and helping people understand what great looks like. What challenges did you experience with the change and how did you overcome them?I felt imposter syndrome very quickly. Would people be questioning why I’m in the role all the time? I had a very supportive leader who coached me through this transition, and I don’t think I would have had or taken the opportunity without someone observing me in action and knowing what I was capable of.Another change I’ve had to adjust to is setting the work plan and then delivering that – the role covers strategy and design as well as delivery, but I’m the subject matter expert. In comms, there’s often a team working on something that needs comms support that you can bounce off. In my role, I’m often bouncing with myself, which can be tricky and a bit lonely. I’ve started to approach people from other companies as well as my peers in the People and OD team to ensure I create a community of practice. Any advice to others who may be looking to make a change?Look at what your strengths are and become really good at making those show up in how you interact with others and the work you produce. Reflect on your own career highs and lows and think about what roles you’ve done that have made you feel great and why – and what roles made you feel like you weren’t and why. Get feedback from multiple sources about where you can improve and what they think you’d be good at to get some data points to help you navigate possible options. I’ve really enjoyed a UK-based company called Amazing If, who wrote the Squiggly Career – that book and their podcasts and materials are awesome for considering where you could go in your own career.Career change inspirationAmanda King’s journey is a powerful reminder of the value of transferable skills, resilience and embracing change. By staying curious, tapping into her communications expertise and maintaining a growth mindset, she successfully transitioned into a new field. Her story encourages professionals to reflect on their strengths, embrace opportunities for growth – and remain open to unexpected career paths. If you are currently treading a career change path or are considering your next steps, or already know what you want in your next role, get in touch with the Beyond Recruitment team today – we’d love to help you.