Latest on New Zealand ?

buccsboyo

Hey Guys,

Was just wondering if I could get the latest on things in NZ. I know there is loads of archived forums but if I could get some up to date info ( as things are changing so fast !!! :eek: ) Id really appreciate it.

OK ready.... long list of annoying questions to follow sorry

Any idea what the current unemployment rate is at d mo? The latest rate I can find on d web is 4.6% for Jan?

What are peoples experience i.e. that have gone over since Christmas ?

Are there many WHV'srs coming over from Oz ? Are Kiwis coming home from or heading to Sydney/London ?

My background is in IT Project Management? Anyone in this industry ? Are contractors being hired/fired ? What about bar/call centres/hostel jobs?

Also could someone confirm re U-30 WHV... you can work with the 1 employee for 12 months straight and claim your tax back when you return home?


Apologies again for all the q's any answers at all wud b much appreciated

Cheers

lemon_of_old

Hey, I can't answer most of your questions, but I got to Wellington just over 2 weeks ago. I had no problem finding a basic waitressing job, I found it in a day, but lots of other people couldn't find anything. When it comes to these casual hospo jobs, it's easy come easy go, 30 CVs to every job, and it's all about luck. Turned out the money was so bad that I was actually losing money working in Wellington, so I'm off to do some seasonal work in the south island on Monday.

Everyone keeps talking about the recession here in NZ but it's nothing like at home. Judging from the black binliners of empty wine bottles I have to dump every night at work, people are still spending money away. And I don't get the sense of fear that THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!! that I got in Oz.

I've met quite a few Irish people here on WHV, but most of them are here to travel and work a little bit and then travel some more, without actually finding a serious job. Just enough to get by like. I have no idea what the jobs are like in your industry, give a look on seek.co.nz. And yeah, you get your tax back.

pclancy

There is still project management work in IT, www.seek.co.nz will show you how much is out there. Lot of companies are being very carefull and watching the europe/US situation very closely. Its yet to bite here in a big way with huge layoffs and closures but people are being quite thrifty. I'm in systems/desktop support and found it quite hard to get a job between october-feb but then it picked up again and i got another 6 month contract.

My understanding of my own WHV was that I could only work 6 months for each employer. I dont think anyone gives a crap though. You might have a hard time getting project mangement work unless you're looking longer term then 6-12 months, theyd look as you as just a backpacker not a serious employee.

Our company has had quite a few leaving parties lately, a lot of kiwis are crossing the tasman in search of better money in ozzie.

Feck it though, Im happy to be earning only about 30K in euros even though im worth twice that as the quality of life, scenery, atmosphere and people here are fantastic. Beats the crap out of Ireland, no matter the money.

Crumble Froo

Any idea what the current unemployment rate is at d mo? The latest rate I can find on d web is 4.6% for Jan?

i don't know what the rate of unemployment is, but the economy here is nothing like it is back home. 'the recession' isnt at the tip of everybody's tongues, it's not driving its influence into peoples' every move and spending. from everyone i know, and friends of friends, etc, i know of two people who've lost jobs.

it's more difficult to find a job, but not the impossible that it seems to be for peeps back home or when i was jobhunting in sydney.

What are peoples experience i.e. that have gone over since Christmas ?

well, im here just over a year now, but this is it as im seeing it anyway.

Are there many WHV'srs coming over from Oz ? Are Kiwis coming home from or heading to Sydney/London ?

don't think there's a lot of ozzies coming over here, though kiwis are flocking over there in their thousands. about a thousand a week, i think they were reporting a few days ago.

My background is in IT Project Management? Anyone in this industry ? Are contractors being hired/fired ? What about bar/call centres/hostel jobs?

not too familiar with any of the above areas, there's still 'work wanted' signs in shops and restaurants, which is something i didnt see at all in sydney.

Also could someone confirm re U-30 WHV... you can work with the 1 employee for 12 months straight and claim your tax back when you return home?

yep, 12months straight. it's 6months in oz, no limit in nz. :cool:

jank

I work in IT and I found it very hard to get a job. However I was a bit of a special case in this regard as I wanted to settle in Christchurch and not Wellington or Auckland which are the big two in terms of IT, especially Wellington. Christchurch is the 2nd biggest city here but the economy is so much different to that of the other 2 cities.

There is over a million people living in Auckland so its a bit like dublin with a fairly big local economy. Some big companies like vodafone have their national HQ's there. Wellington is the captial so big public sector workforce and lots of companies & semi state HQ's there like kiwi rail, ontrack, etc etc and of course all government departments have their big offices there. Naturally these corpos and the like have most of their IT infrastructure in that city so there tends to be 10 (at least) IT jobs in wellington for every one in christchruch even though the later is bigger.

Anyway I found a Network admin job eventually after almost 2+ months of trying. I'm here since the start of december so wasnt the best time to look because of xmas and summer holidays.

But saying all that it is very slow here in terms of IT work. This time last year from what I heard you could walk into an IT job, now instead of 10 applications for a job an employer will get 50+. I heard this from one company who I got an interview with but didnt get the job. The manager of the place actually said that she was very surprised by the standard of applicants as they are usually crap. This is a sign of 1) kiwi's coming home from UK (london usually) or OZ and 2) contracts drying up so contracters look for more permanent work, thus creating a big squeeze in the job market. It could also mean she was bull$hitting me but I heard the same tune from others so I say there is alot of truth to it.

Now there is some other temp stuff out there. Like one will get a days work here and there and depending on your skills you might land an OK office job or call centre stuff. I got a 3 month contract with a telephone company the week before I got the IT job which looked like a dead cert to turn into something longer if I wanted it. It was a pretty cool job actually. It wasnt like talking to customers about their phone bills, it was talking to a client i.e. telecom and then talking to field technicians out on the road about fixing lines extra. The other job called so I was lucky.

I think they are looking at worst case scenario at 7.2% unemployed here, now this might go to 8% or maybe more but it will not go to double figure like Ireland is at the moment. New zealand is a fairly sustainable economy. People spend within their means. Most people have 2nd hand cars. They spend their money on other things like ski passes, bikes, wet suits, BBQs etc. Not new BMW's just to impress the neighbours like ireland. It grew at a mild pace the last few years but nothing like Ireland. As they say the higher you rise the bigger the fall.

NZ will correct itself but there are few better places to be instead of NZ.

Oh by the way. The pay here is not good compared to home. If you are into money do not come here. If you want the kiwi life then do, but the pay is crap, well not crap because IMO we were spoiled at home. Cost of living is cheaper obviously but buying some stuff is very expensice. Like i heard that average electronic goods have all gone up 30% because of the weak kiwi dollar. Not good when I want to buy a big DLSR:(

Have a look at http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/

You cant go wrong with that place. All very helpfull but very geared towards the permanent mover, not your average WHV types.

Phew ... think im finished now (wipes sweat of brow)

Crumble Froo

and i'd defo echo the couple of posters who say that the money here is really not great... but the lifestyle, imo, is just awesome. couldnt live anything like i do here back home.

Jemmy

Actually to butt in on this on the OP what is the engineering sector like over there does anyone know? Would there be many jobs going in the civil area preferably?

Also what kinda job sites should I be looking at over there? I'm heading over in May.


CANT WAIT! :D