KEY POINTS:
With unemployment at a 22-year low, and promise of the streets being paved with gold across the ditch luring many Kiwis to Oz, it's a hard road to find the perfect employee.
It appears that employers are having to resort to all kinds of innovative tricks and treats to ensure they keep their good workers. I've heard of some companies offering spot prizes to their workers simply for turning up; all sorts of bonuses being paid on top of salaries and working conditions designed to accommodate a myriad of lifestyles. And yet there are still those struggling to get a job.
I spoke to a young woman who graduated from Auckland University in 2006 with a double degree and an MCom. She speaks Japanese and Chinese, she worked her way through university as a waitress so she has a healthy work ethic and she has a boyfriend and enjoys going out so she's not some nerdy geek.
And yet she hasn't been able to find a job. Well, not a job that matches her qualifications, anyway. She's back waitressing and she's living off her parents and, after more than a year of turning up to interviews and being told "thanks but no thanks", she's starting to despair.
She had wanted to stay in New Zealand but she's sending her resume to companies in Australia.
For those looking for work, perhaps those in their 50s who've been restructured or those looking to take the first step on the career ladder, it must be galling to hear there's no excuse for not having a job.
I know employers are worried about taking a chance on a risky prospect, given how difficult it is to sack a worker who turns out to be a dud, but why not bang a young one or an oldie on a fixed-term contract and give them a go - you might get a better deal than you imagined.
