KEY POINTS:
A New Zealand website is utilising parents of expat Kiwis to help lure skilled workers back home, says Dean Curtis, NZ manager for TrackMeBack.com.
"We have been trying to be quite creative in how we can almost pull on the heartstrings of New Zealand talent offshore and we have been contacted by a number of parents."
Curtis knows most parents would prefer to have their children living in New Zealand.
So some parents are sending their kids overseas a link to the employment website, even though they're not yet in the market for a job back home.
The website reverse-engineers the whole employment process by listing candidates who aren't interested in returning home immediately but might in the future.
"This is an employer's opportunity to ... speak to Kiwis with a range of skills from a range of industries that want to hear from them and do want to come home at some point, but very long-term," Curtis says.
Candidates overseas retain complete control of who can and cannot see and contact them.
"If you select that you don't want to hear from an organisation, then you won't come up in their search."
The site has been operating since November 2007 and, Curtis says, it's a lot less costly than paying recruitment fees on an international placement.
"If you look at the cost of hiring somebody through traditional methods, it's really quite expensive and even more so for organisations when you're bringing them back from overseas."
TrackMeBack.com offers employers a one-year membership for $6000 to search their database as much as they like.
"If you hire one person, you've already got your return. Some companies are hiring already within four or five months of being signed up or are already hiring three or four people," Curtis says.
The site currently lists around 3000 candidates and 25 employers.
One of those is Air New Zealand, which also utilises parental influences.
"We all know that parents would rather have their kids on this side of the world than they would in the UK," says Simon Pomeroy of Air New Zealand human resources.
"So, it's an incentive for parents to have their kids back and be responsible in the fact that they want their kids to have the best career and not miss out on opportunities."
Expats are more likely to look at a website link sent by their parents than a company.
"We're getting parents in New Zealand sending the TrackMeBack link to their kids overseas.
"We're getting a lot of kids in their 20s and 30s and whatever age," Pomeroy says.
There is also a draw giving away free flights if people get their children to register or their friends to register. Families can visit their children overseas or their children can come home for a visit.
Air New Zealand has found the $6000 annual subscription a bargain.
"It's giving companies direct access to talent which otherwise they'd have to pay $20,000 to $30,000 for through a recruitment agency.
"For Air New Zealand it's paid for itself in half a recruitment hire. We've brought maybe a handful of people back."
The airline has hired expats through the website in marketing, finance, engineering and IT.
"Very quickly we realised there were 1500 to 1600 people who said, 'We want direct communication with employers. We want you to tell us about careers there'," Pomeroy says.
The site targets expats 25 years and older.
One attraction for them is that they don't actually have to do any work, Pomeroy says.
"If you think about typically a job board or a newspaper, the onus is on the candidate. Here, they spend five minutes registering, put their CV on and companies come to them."
Pomeroy says it took six months last year to fill a tax role locally because there was no one in New Zealand with the skills.
When they foresaw another vacancy opening up, they turned to TrackMeBack.
"We knew we were going to move our investor relations manager into a strategy role. We were struggling to find an investor relations manager and it just so happened that there was one on TrackMeBack. And about seven months ago we started a dialogue with her."
Air New Zealand eventually recruited her from Australia.
"It's been really insightful knowing where you've got gaps that you've got people in your pipeline that you're talking to."
Pomeroy says the low-pressure environment works well with today's job candidates and gives them access to people who aren't necessarily in the job market.
"We've brought people back that haven't necessarily wanted to come back, but because we've got a role right now, they're open to it."
* www.DavidMaida.com
