Perversely, a weakened market actually makes skilled employees more attractive
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The economy is weak, Wall Street is in crisis and business confidence is in the gutter. But each work day, people still get out of bed early, find the newspaper on their doorstep, the loaf of bread at the dairy and their cappuccino from the corner cafe. In other words, life goes on and creative companies continue to succeed, regardless of the economic climate.
This weekend, many hundreds of people will converge on the ASB Showgrounds to attend the New Zealand Herald Your Career Expo. There they will meet people from those creative companies to hear about career opportunities around the city, the country and overseas.
Regardless of the headlines at the macro level, at the micro level companies are still hiring, workers are still looking to improve their qualifications and business goes on.
The expo will bring employers and potential employees together in the biggest careers event in the country, with a two-day series of workshops, presentations and exhibitions across four pavilions.
For expo organiser Michael Scott, the strong response from exhibitors was a good indicator that businesses with a strategic vision were always on the lookout for people with talent.
"It's easy to get spooked in a bear market but the smart companies know that this is a good time to be hiring smart people to drive their next phase of growth," he said.
"Unemployment is still below 4 per cent and the outlook is improving for 2009. It may well be that in a time of economic uncertainty that some people are taking stock of where they are in their careers and start looking around for the next step."
So, almost perversely, despite the headlines, today's workers are facing a sellers' market when it comes to their skills. Companies that are recruiting want them and their existing employers are keen to keep them.
This is the case at Auckland transport giant Fullers, which operates the ferry service for the city. Judy Chappell is Fullers' human resources manager and she says Fullers has a full programme of career development for its employees to make sure they retain their top staff.
"There certainly seem to be good opportunities for skilled people in the marine industry globally, so we need to do what we can to hold on to our best performers," she said.
With Auckland's population continuing to grow and the road system sometimes straining to cope with the extra traffic loads, the option of using ferries to get into the city is becoming ever more attractive to many Aucklanders.
"Fullers' sees potential for a major expansion of ferry services, taking full advantage of the many waterways and the fast-growing population living around them," Ms Chappell said. "If our customer base was to increase by 18 per cent in five years, our employee numbers could rise by 4 or 5 per cent. Any expansion in the tourism market will also impact this figure."
As more people move to the nation's business capital, the lifestyle impact of an increased population is having the reverse effect of convincing some people that life outside Auckland could be an attractive option.
Andrea Coulston left the big smoke three years ago with her family and hasn't looked back. And now she's settled in Wellington with a job that tasks her with convincing more Aucklanders to follow her south.
"We wanted to move out of Auckland so we looked at Napier, Wellington and Christchurch," she said.
"We settled on Wellington as we thought it would be easier to get work here than Christchurch or Napier. We rented in Wellington for the first six months before finding a home to buy. And it took about one month for us to find work. It has definitely been easier to get contract work and we earn more than we did in Auckland."
Andrea now works with the city of Wellington, helping market the national capital as a great place to work and live.
"I like the creative buzz of Wellington, it feels like a safe city (we have three preschool girls), it has less traffic than Auckland (doesn't everywhere?) and more sunshine hours. It has been the right move for us," she said.
Cath Randall from Grow Wellington said the capital needed skilled workers to fill a broad range of jobs.
"The Wellington region provides particularly large portions of total New Zealand employment within finance, insurance and business services, communications and media, government, education and creative sectors," she said. "The IT sector is strong in Wellington and we are continually in need of skilled and experienced professionals in both the public and private sectors. Government also generates a need for analysts in policy and business as well as corporate planners and sustainability professionals.
"The skills shortage is national. Health, engineering and trades are sectors where there are shortages in most regions, including Wellington."
For many people though, career planning may mean taking a break from fulltime work and building on qualifications. The University of Auckland is seeing strong growth in masters and doctoral student numbers as people seek to boost their professional skills.
Dean of Graduate Studies Gregor Coster said there are 4500 postgraduates studying at the University of Auckland.
"Many students are aware that undertaking an undergraduate degree is no guarantee for success," he said. "Postgraduate study offers the opportunity to gain additional knowledge, skills and experience to fit students for the work place. Postgraduate study is of value whether preparing for academic employment or for gaining a position that offers significant progression prospects."
Mr Coster said employers were often looking for candidates with well-rounded skills and the ability to achieve at a high level.
"It is generally understood that a postgraduate degree requires a higher level of critical analysis and independent thinking as well as the development of research, writing and presentation skills so is therefore becoming more highly sought after in the graduate market," he said.
"It is important however that job seekers focus on the skills developed via postgraduate study, complement these with extra-curricular and work activities and present the whole package to an employer rather than just the higher degree itself."
The "total package" is what travel specialists Flight Centre look for in their potential employees. Flight Centre recruiter Debbie Macdonald said the company worked hard on developing a work environment that would attract and retain passionate and dedicated people.
"People are cautious about who they work for and the stability of their employment, perhaps more so at the moment," she said.
"The fact that Flight Centre is still growing in staff numbers and profit during this economic climate is really exciting and helps us to stand out from the crowd of companies looking for new staff.
"Flight Centre has won the award for Best Large Workplace in the Large Workplace category for six years running as voted by our employees, which proves that we walk our talk."
Workplace analysts JRA (NZ) Ltd are sponsoring the Great Places to Work pavilion at the career expo. Managing director John Robertson said successful companies like Flight Centre made employee engagement a core part of their business operations.
Research carried out in the 2007 unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work in New Zealand survey showed that "engaged" employees generated a return on assets 95 per cent higher than their less engaged counterparts, generated sales per employee 68 per cent higher, and were 29 per cent more likely to stay with their current job.
"The case for building a great workplace - one characterised by high levels of employee engagement - is overwhelming," Mr Robertson said.
