Japan calling for Kiwi IT people

By ADAM GIFFORD

Dotcom dreams are not all dead in the land of the rising sun, as a team of Kiwi programmers may soon find.

Auckland firm Saturn Media is recruiting 30 Perl programmers to work in Japan for fast-growing internet and technology company livedoor.

Saturn Media director Stephen Weir said the programmers were needed for a major e-commerce project, and would be on six or 12 month contracts.

"They want the type of programmer this country breeds - very creative and able to get around problems," Weir said.

The salary is about $65,000, not much more than a good Perl programmer can expect in New Zealand, but accommodation and a return air fare are included.

Livedoor's offices are in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills district.

The Kiwi connection comes through livedoor's US$24 million ($39.6 million) acquisition in March of the Japanese subsidiary of internet advertising firm ValueClick, which was started by New Zealand expatriate Jonathan Hendricksen.

Saturn Media has worked with ValueClick Japan creating advertising-related applications for the internet and Japan's i-Mode cellphone network.

"We design, build and host them in New Zealand, even though the end users are in Japan," Weir said.

Livedoor started in 1996 as a website developer, but expanded into data centres, application renting, e-commerce site administration, a free internet service provider and an internet portal.

It is forecasting US$17.1 billion ($28.2 billion) revenue this year.