Many sophisticated businesses in Wellington are struggling to capitalise on opportunities for growth because of limited local talent. This is one finding of a recently published Victoria University study of 113 knowledge economy companies in the capital. Over a third of the senior managers interviewed said they couldn’t find most of the workers they needed from within the Wellington region.
Many of these companies are well-seasoned and high-earning—a third of those interviewed had total sales of over $50 million for the most recent financial year and around a half had been here for more than two decades. Those in the finance and insurance sectors also put forward a consistent message: potential workers see Wellington as having limited career opportunities in Wellington and, as a result, are not confident about staying or shifting here.
As the worker pool is limited, this is having flow-on effects. Wellington has a reputation as a creative capital, largely because of its film industry, but one senior manager noted that creative talent is limited in Wellington in the digital, IT and design sectors. If you’re creative, you want opportunities to work with bigger agencies and you’re drawn to larger markets.
The companies identified a real difficulty in finding creative people who could think strategically and come up with market-leading solutions.
Other people in short supply in Wellington are:
• Those with relationship building skills for developing long-term, high-trust partnerships
• Those who can translate highly technical concepts into easily understood language
• Leaders who can think commercially and also develop staff
• Strong technical analysts who can adapt easily to change
High profile companies such as Xero and TradeMe have been attracting workers like magnets, which has created shortages of technical skills and experience in the IT sector.
Smaller, less visible companies have adopted different strategies for recruiting and retaining staff. Some emphasise the dynamic and international character of their work. Others focus on company culture, seeking to appreciate and involve staff as partners so they see work as being part of a family, not just a job. Training and development for potential leaders is important to such high commitment approaches. Drawing on recent graduates as a solution to skill shortages was seen as problematic by smaller IT companies which feared graduates would leave after a year or two for international opportunities.
The role of government as an employer emerged as a significant influence, with several examples of key staff being forced to leave the region after a spouse had been made redundant as a result of the restructuring of government agencies.
During August, Victoria University aims to engage in more depth with the employment and work issues of the rapidly changing digital economy of Wellington. With hundreds of companies in this sector, and New Zealand’s highest per capita concentration of university-educated knowledge workers, the Wellington region has a set of challenges which are more like those of Silicon Valley than traditional New Zealand businesses.
Read the report on Wellington’s knowledge economy at www.victoria.ac.nz/som/researchprojects/working-capital
Dr Richard Norman teaches Human Resource Management and Training and Development at Victoria University. This is one of three articles on findings of the study, ‘Wellington’s knowledge economy – coming to grips with technology change’. The study was developed in partnership with Wellington Regional Council, with support from Grow Wellington and Wellington City Council.