NZTech, the organisation tasked with providing a voice for the technology ecosystem, has been collecting feedback through a digital skills survey, which has revealed an urgent need for solutions. Between 4000 and 5000 tech professionals have immigrated to New Zealand in the last five years. But Covid has put a stop to this, and it is slowing New Zealand’s recovery. It is also known that NZTech is urging the government to take immediate action to treat critical tech skills with the same enthusiasm as they do fruit pickers, actors, athletes, and other critical workers.
In response to the crisis, digital transformation and technology alliances are two of several areas in which a multinational professional services network of firms based in New Zealand intends to create more than 500 new jobs over the next five years.
The proposed job creation drive is part of the company’s global strategy aimed at “responding to fundamental changes in the world,” such as technological disruption, climate change, fractured geopolitics, and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The programme, dubbed ‘The New Equation,’ was announced by the firm and was described at the time as “a revolutionary approach in how we see new opportunities to serve clients as they work to build trust and deliver sustainable business outcomes.”
If we want to improve productivity, deliver a better health system, create high-value jobs and help companies recover from covid by being more efficient and accessing international markets, we need to increase the number of digital technology professionals in New Zealand to enable it.
– NZTech Chief Executive
According to the company, the programme is based on an analysis of global trends and thousands of conversations with clients and stakeholders, and it focuses on two interconnected needs that its customers are likely to face in the coming years.
As part of the global programme, the firm operating in New Zealand has made several commitments, the most visible of which is a plan to create over 500 jobs in New Zealand over the next five years. These positions will be in a variety of areas that the company claims are crucial to creating a more productive New Zealand and transitioning to a digital transformation. Digital transformation and technology alliances, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), Mori business, infrastructure and health reform are among the areas covered.
The company plans to upskill its team of over 1,700 employees to provide them with the knowledge, skills, and tools required for the digital future, with the company committing over $8 million over three years to accomplish this goal.
Furthermore, the New Equation Programme is expected to further propel the company’s growth in the broader Asia Pacific region, with US$3 billion in investments over the next five years to improve capabilities to support its clients in the region, as part of an ambition to double the size of the business by 2026 and extend its market position.
To relate to other digital transformation efforts, OpenGov Asia in an article reported that the Minister for Government Digital Services is working to ensure that New Zealanders’ interactions with the government are inclusive, accessible, responsive to their needs, and exceed their expectations.
The Strategy for a Digital Public Service provides an opportunity for its public service to move forward and provide people with the same speed and quality of service as government agencies that they have with private sector organisations. It incentivises the public sector to rethink how services are delivered to New Zealanders while ensuring that those digital services are safe and secure.
Ultimately, the rapidly expanding New Zealand technology sector is being hampered. Technology is on track to overtake agriculture as New Zealand’s largest export sector by 2030. The pandemic has also highlighted the comparative advantage that weightless exports now have over bulky commodities.
