New Zealand’s Capital Has Its Sights Set On Aussie Tech Talent

A new talent attraction campaign designed to put New Zealand’s capital of cool on the radar for Australian tech talent launched last week, in a bid to help attract the workforce needed to support the booming ICT and creative sectors.

The Wellington Works digital campaign tells the story of the city’s culture, collaborative community, balanced lifestyle and global opportunities through the desks of Xero Strategic Programme Manager Erin Connolly, Carnival Mobile iOS Developer Sam Jarman and Zing Designs owner Zheng Li.

The campaign is part of Wellington City Council’s Destination Wellington programme, and coincides with Grow Wellington’s attendance at the NZ Jobs Expo in Melbourne on April 18-19.

“Wellington Works is designed to highlight the professional opportunities and lifestyle advantages through talented people who work in some of our most exciting companies,” said Positively Wellington Tourism chief executive David Perks.

“Targeted banner and social media advertising will drive viewers to an interactive page telling an authentic story of why Wellington works for each desk’s owner. It’s about bringing real stories to likeminded Australians looking for their next career or life move.”

As New Zealand’s fastest-growing sector, there is huge demand and competition for developers, analysts, strategists and UX designers, says chair of the Wellington City Council Economic Development & Arts Committee, councillor Jo Coughlan.

“Right now there are over 330 Wellington IT jobs being advertised on Trade Me, with 63% of those falling into salary bands of over $100,000. These are high value jobs.”

Wellington needs to be bold in its approach to attracting tech talent in order to help drive the city’s growing knowledge economy, Councillor Coughlan says.

“Wellington is one of the most affordable cities to live in in Australasia, with one of the most exciting tech sectors in the world. We offer global opportunities, without compromising on quality lifestyle – the Destination Wellington programme is about telling that story.”

Grow Wellington chief executive Gerard Quinn says the digital campaign is another way of raising awareness among New Zealand expats and Australians considering a career move.

“This will reinforce our team’s efforts on the ground at the Jobs Expo to encourage talented people to choose Wellington.”

Australians have made over 12,000 visits to the Work section of WellingtonNZ.com since it was re-launched as a one-stop-shop website in May, Mr Perks says.

“The Wellington Works campaign aims to more than double that by the end of April.”

The campaign has been designed by Wellington creative agency Touchcast.

“All of the campaigns we design for Wellington are close to our heart, but Wellington Works strikes a particular chord because it’s a challenge we’re very familiar with,” says General Manager Rod Schofield.

“A growing pool of digital talent is pivotal to our company’s continued success and expansion so it’s really exciting to play a part in helping put Wellington in front of tech talent in Australia.”

The Wellington Works campaign will run until the end of April.

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