Opportunity Knocks For Kiwi Expats

Press release
8th August 2012

Opportunity Knocks For Kiwi Expats

Thousands of Kiwi expats are ditching economic doom and gloom in Europe for better job opportunities back home, according to TrackMeBack, an online jobs community that links expat workers overseas with firms in New Zealand and Australia.

The prospect of continued jobs growth and economic stability in New Zealand is proving too good to resist for ambitious expats looking to further their careers on home soil.

UK Home Office figures show that the number of New Zealand citizens entering the UK for employment has dropped by 40 per cent over the past three years.

A survey of Kiwi expats conducted by TrackMeBack.com found that they are returning home for better job opportunities and because they are “sick of the economic doom and gloom in the UK”.

“We’ve more than tripled our business since 2010, with a huge number of Kiwi expats returning home from the UK in particular,” said Ms Rafferty.

The top ten jobs that Kiwis are returning to New Zealand and Australia for this year are in mining, resources, engineering, energy, digital media, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, trades, construction and insurance, according to Caroline Rafferty, general manager of Track Me Back.

According to TrackMeBack, many returning expats have been living and working abroad for a number of years: “We see a whole range of candidates but our typical returning expat is degree qualified with ten or more years’ professional experience, with at least half of that being gained overseas.”

“They have usually worked in multiple cities globally and are now returning to work in New Zealand and Australia because there are better job opportunities and the economic outlook is more positive.”

“Many of our expats left home ten years ago with a backpack, thinking they’d be gone for six months! Now they’re returning with a spouse and a family, and they’re looking to settle at home for the long-term.”

With the European economic forecast looking ever gloomier, TrackMeBack - whose clients include BNZ, the Department of Labour and Transpower - predicts more of the same in the coming months.

“There’s obviously a lot of buzz around jobs in construction but we’re also seeing a steady growth in demand for candidates in sectors such as insurance, FMCGs, healthcare, management consulting and digital media so they’re definitely ones to watch in the coming year.”

“When you combine a stalling European economy with tighter UK visa restrictions for Kiwi migrants the case for returning home is pretty compelling for a lot expats,” said Caroline Rafferty.

ENDS

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