War scare reverses brain drain

By SIMON COLLINS

From Europe, the Middle East and America, New Zealanders are heading home to escape the threat of war.

Exactly a year after hundreds of young New Zealanders put their names to a Herald advertisement headed "A Generation Lost?" the country's "brain drain" is in full reverse.

It may be only short-term. But for now, New Zealand's small size and isolation, which once drove young people to seek better opportunities abroad, have made the country a haven since the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11.

Our farm-based economy, which was seen last year as holding us back, has also insulated us from the collapse of the "internet bubble" and the world economic slowdown.

Better job prospects here had already cut the net outflow of long-term migrants from 10,030 in the year to August last year to 4390 in the year to this August.

Recruitment agencies say terrorism is now dramatically boosting the inflow. Indicators include:

* The London office of Robert Walters, a recruitment agency which claims the largest database of expatriate Kiwis, has had a huge rise in inquiries from people seeking New Zealand jobs in the past three weeks - "perhaps as much as three-fold".

* Robert Half, an accounting and finance job agency, said inquiries had jumped 40 per cent in a month.

* Technology job agency Clayton Ford reported a 25 per cent rise in responses from overseas, mainly from Britain, since September 11.

* Auckland Healthcare has heard that expatriate nurses lured by high pay to the Persian Gulf are now trying to get home.

* Waitemata Health reports a surge of inquiries from doctors keen to come here from Britain - although it has been partly offset by American doctors staying in or returning to the US "because we may be needed".

* Executive search firms Korn/Ferry and Farrow Jamieson report more inquiries from overseas and some from NZ-based managers who have abandoned plans to go overseas.

One of those who has already made up her mind is Caroline Powley, aged 29, who has booked her ticket home after six years as a graphic designer in London.

"We are miles away from anything, and who on earth is ever going to bother us?" she said.

Christine White, who worked near the US Embassy in London, was in Wellington on September 11 for a surprise 60th birthday party for her partner's mother. She and her partner have decided to stay.

"When we were in London they had bomb alerts on the tube stations," she said. "It gives you a real sick feeling in your stomach.

"It was that, and the threat of chemical warfare. You think of the tube stations - if anything got in there, you'd be stuffed.

"We did a pros and cons list. Our family is here, and then there's the economy - earning £40,000 ($144,000) there is like earning $40,000 here because of the cost of living.

"And being back is good because of the clean and green. You don't get home at night and have black things coming out of your nasal passages. It's a health and safety issue, and it's peace of mind."

Korn/Ferry's Lara Keane said: "New Zealanders who were really keen to move to the US and other countries are all of a sudden deciding that perhaps New Zealand isn't such a bad place to be after all."

A business manager in London told the magazine Working In NZ by e-mail: "I am commuting each day on one of the busiest routes into the heart of the city and just don't feel safe. You may think that I am over-reacting. However, it is quite depressing and the fact of the matter is ... we have a choice. Our plans were never long term and it just feels right to come home while we can."

Alan Marriott of Robert Half said many expatriates were re-examining their values and deciding that family safety came before money.

Robert Walters' London-based international research manager, John Revie, said the drop in salary for returning New Zealanders was not as great in real terms, allowing for living costs, as many thought.

Even Australia had become less attractive as its economy slowed.

Caroline Powley said that when she met up with 12 New Zealand friends in London last week, nine were planning to come home.

"Everyone has been talking about missing Mum more."

Map: Opposing forces in the war against terror

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