NZ expats staying put in US

New Zealanders making it in the US take an 'I wouldn't live there if you paid me to' stance to Godzone.

Hamish McMaster, psychologist, Boston

On his lunchbreak at a Harvard conference, Hamish is swapping notes with a group of behavioural psychologists. It is this kind of opportunity that drew the 32-year-old to Boston, where he is director of organisational development at Deloitte.

"You couldn't really do this in New Zealand," he says. "You're isolated from the ideas, both in terms of time and in getting face to face with people."

A map of New Zealand hangs on his wall, and he says he'll consider returning one day.

The reasons would be 99 per cent professional. "Pay rates aren't really the thing. If I can do some interesting behavioural psychology in New Zealand, then I'll go back."

Justine Kirby, mergers and acquisitions lawyer, New York

Justine lives a few blocks from Central Park, has run the New York marathon twice, and can't see herself ever returning to live in New Zealand. She came to the US in 1999, planning to stay three years, but fell in love with living in a 24-hour city. There's probably nothing the Government could do to entice her back.

"I'm financially on a different planet than I would be in New Zealand."

The 35-year-old's main reason for staying in New York is the wealth of opportunities and ideas "and there's not this assumption that everyone cares about the rugby".

James Bones, design engineer, Boston

James worked on the Sky Tower, then New Zealand's largest commercial construction project. In the US, he says, hundreds of major projects are happening every day.

He came to the US intending to stay for a couple of years but the 35-year-old has planted deeper personal and professional roots than he'd expected. He is married to an American, "which is definitely a reason to stay".

He said it would be difficult for a New Zealand firm to match his US salary, but he would consider returning for an interesting project. He could perhaps see himself back in New Zealand in 10 years, if the right job arose or if he started a family.

Rebecca Abel, manages documentation at an international bank, New York

Rebecca graduated in 2000 with a law and commerce degree and a $30,000 student loan. She worked in New Zealand for a year, then doubled her income by moving to Australia. She transferred to New York in 2003 after winning the green card lottery, and was offered a similar salary - in US dollars.

"Money isn't everything, but when you're young and have a student loan, it's a major factor," says the 27-year-old.

She estimates it would take 10 years to pay back her loan in New Zealand. "Here, I could probably pay it off in two months."

Even without a loan, she would have left to seek a wider range of jobs. "In New Zealand there are so many law graduates and so few jobs."

Karen Barwell, post-doctoral research scientist, New York

As a scientist, Karen is contemplating life without a home country. "You're in a global market. It's an uncertain job area to be in."

She says research funding is more of a concern for her than wages. In a country as small as New Zealand it would be hard to secure grants for her research on yeast.

Personal reasons, not financial ones, might bring her home.

"I love New Zealand and I love living there. If someone asked me what I'll be doing when I'm 45, that's where I see myself. But if I stay in science, I don't know how true that will be."