Graduates flock to booming IT industry

In November last year, Datacom attended the New Zealand Job Fair in Sydney, organised by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The company came away with a dozen or so prospects, primarily Australians or New Zealand expats, who might have the "rock star" vibe that attracts more talent. Datacom's head of recruitment, Ewen Bell, mentioned that even if only a few of these candidates come on board, the effort will be worthwhile. "We want more rock stars because we are a flat-structured organisation, and we see our mission to provide highly effective, high-value IT services to appreciative customers, so there is a constant stream of projects that excite and attract people," he says. "That contributes to low turnover, and that means an engaged workforce that can produce some astonishingly great work that does not get publicity, and that is fine with us."

 

Along with the "rock stars," Bell mentioned that the company has a pool of hundreds of pre-approved candidates in every geography to draw from. Datacom also runs a large graduate programme to recruit from universities. The company's New Zealand headcount is about 2800, which includes the bulk of its 900 software developers, while a further 1500 people are spread across Australia. However, Datacom will need to hire 400 to 500 people this year, a small fraction of the broader demand, which is also reflected in other New Zealand companies, such as product developers Xero and Orion.

 

According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand will need an additional 50,000 highly skilled workers by 2017, including IT professionals. Minister Steven Joyce highlighted the importance of job fairs, which also targeted engineering, construction, health, and manufacturing skills, as part of a broader effort to address the IT skills shortage. Joyce noted a 20 percent increase in enrolments in university computer science and information and communications technology (ICT) courses. "Through the late 2000s, we were getting 450 to 500 graduates a year, now we get 750 a year with a higher-level ICT qualification," he said. He added that there had been a significant increase in investment, from $4 million annually in 2010 to $67 million per year, mostly at degree level and above.

 

However, Joyce acknowledged that training alone wouldn't solve the problem, so the government is also setting up one-year ICT graduate schools in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, with $29 million allocated for the initiative. These schools aim to stay closely connected with businesses to ensure that graduates are up to date with the rapidly evolving field of ICT.

 

Job fairs are just one part of the solution, and an online recruitment tool called Innovation Island has attracted over 2000 applicants since its launch in September. Joyce pointed out that the job fairs also help Australians realise they don’t need a work visa to come and work in New Zealand.

 

One of the biggest constraints to growth in New Zealand's technology sector is the speed at which companies can attract staff. Companies like Orion and Xero have significant hiring needs, but second-tier firms across the country are also looking for recruits. Xero’s CEO, Rod Drury, believes New Zealand technology companies can attract staff by building good brands and doing globally significant work. Some of the larger companies, like Xero, are now listed and offer share options, which is a major incentive for talent. Xero hired 500 people last year and plans to bring in 20 to 50 graduates next year in various disciplines, including marketing, customer care, recruitment, and HR. Drury also mentioned the increasing demand for expertise in big data, as Xero processes $250 billion in transactions, generating economic data that was previously unavailable.

 

Drury anticipates continued growth in demand for both product developers like Xero and service firms like Datacom. "Large enterprises are looking to connect to the cloud, so we see 10 years of boom times for developers," he concluded.