Kiwi expats head home, but the hard part is landing a job

Rodney and Jessie O'Connor are leaving Austria. Photo / Janna Dixon

Last year, Kiwi mechanical engineer Rodney O'Connor landed his dream job: test riding motorbikes for an Austrian motorcycle company.

Now, thanks to the recession, O'Connor and his wife Jessie are both out of work and are heading home in August.

O'Connor, 35, couldn't believe his luck when he got a job with prestigious Austrian motorcycle company KTM, test driving off-road and racing motorbikes. Jessie, 32, got a marketing job with the same company.

Now the dream is over. Both have been made redundant and their work visa restrictions mean they have to leave a country they love.

Their OE wasn't supposed to end this way. When they left New Plymouth two years ago for Dubai, both were confident they would find work.

The offer from KTM caused them to head for Austria in August last year, but, within months, the company had been hit hard by the global recession. First Jessie was made redundant just before Christmas, then Rodney was told his contract would be over by August.

News that the "dream job" was coming to an end was a blow. "It was a great opportunity for me, but the crisis hit and KTM is struggling."

Like other expats, the O'Connors will head back to New Zealand, looking for housing, work, a car, to reunite with friends and family and make the best of it. Rodney is philosophical: "Everywhere in the world unemployment is rising so the chances of being employed as a foreigner are less likely. So New Zealand seems to be a good place to be right now. It's home, we're Kiwis, we love New Zealand."

Employment agencies, banks and real estate agents dealing with returning expats say while they haven't been swamped by numbers, there has been a steady increase.

Statistics NZ figures, available until April this year, show the numbers of returning New Zealand citizens gradually creeping up.

In March and April, the numbers returning were 1756 and 1689, compared with 1556 and 1433 the same time last year. New figures due out this week are expected to show a greater increase again.

Online websites such as Trade Me and realestate.co.nz have recorded marked increases in hits from countries with a high number of expats, such as Dubai and Britain.

Overall hits on Trade Me, which includes housing, jobs, and buying cars and household items, has increased by 38 per cent from the United Arab Emirates and hits from the UK are up nearly 8 per cent.