Plan to get builders jumping to NZ

Bungy jumping is one of the drawcards for builders. Photo / Michael Craig

Bungy jumping, fishing, and weekend trips to Waiheke Island are being dangled in front of overseas builders to get them to move to New Zealand.

A group of private companies and public organisations, including Auckland Transport, will launch a new campaign in October to entice builders to immigrate to this country to meet the growing demand for construction workers.

The campaign - called LookSee Build - follows on from a similar project earlier this year that saw 48,000 applicants put their hands up for IT jobs in the capital.

Recruitment firm HainesAttract, which ran the hunt for the Wellington tech workers, is spearheading LookSee Build. HainesAttract director Hamish Price hopes the programme can involve every big construction player in New Zealand.

"With LookSee Build NZ we are essentially trying to future-proof the construction industry for a level of infrastructure build that this country has never seen.

"We'll be targeting the UK and Ireland and other selected markets for the right people to come here and live and work in New Zealand," Price said. LookSee Build will offer candidates a "range of quintessential Kiwi experiences" like bungy jumping and weekends away to draw people to New Zealand. As part of the job interviews candidates will be taken on various trips.

Building consultant Aaron Muir, who is also involved with LookSee Build, said the construction industry was already facing pressure from the amount of work on the boil.

About $125 billion worth of work is scheduled in the next 10 years and a further $14b was being promised on the election campaign trail, he said.

"The infrastructure commitments are great news for New Zealand and we certainly welcome the investment but we already have a skill and talent shortage and this is going to make an already acute situation much tighter," Muir said.

"New Zealand is a small market and we already have a huge project list on the books, for which construction companies are struggling to find the skills and talent to execute."

For more information see http://lookseebuildnewzealand.co.nz/