We went to the regions to test the temperature among employers and recruiters and see what employers’ hiring intentions were for 2023, despite the expectation that a shallow recession will arrive in the coming months.

Karen Haigh, Talent Specialist at economic development agency, ChristchurchNZ, says organisations actively hiring at the moment in Christchurch include the tech and high tech manufacturing. According to figures from MBIE (Ministry of Business, innovation and Employment) job vacancies in Canterbury have increased 50% from their pre-Covid equivalent (December 2022 quarter vs December 19 quarter). And more specifically, during 2022, there was a 23% increase in jobs advertised in IT jobs compared with 2021 and 20% in manufacturing. There’s also been a significant increase in health jobs advertised (21%) and 22% in accounting in the same period.

The Christchurch economy has a broad range of sectors including food and fibre, health, manufacturing, all of these fairly well placed to get through a recession, she says.

And the garden city, with two universities, has clusters or hubs of industry players which help provide a really supportive ecosystem for workers moving to Christchurch, says Karen. Professional association Canterbury Tech for instance has regular meetups and hundreds of people come along to them, says Karen.

There are also aerospace industry meetups, she says. These get-togethers are great places for people thinking of a career change to find out about other interesting ideas and opportunities, says Karen.

One of the main reasons we found in our State of the Nation survey for job hunters to be looking for a job move was because they wanted a complete career change or to secure a job with better career prospects.

The Christchurch NZ talent expert says women looking at changing careers are very well supported through the development agency’s PowerUp initiative. PowerUp targets women looking at new opportunities, actively supporting those looking to move to Christchurch, says Karen. The initiative runs workshops for women to identify what their transferable skills are, arranging meetings with businesses who are hiring.

Christchurch is also benefiting from a trend for national companies to expand their bases to the South Island to spread risk during crises. Large national organisations like Spark and Datacom have done this at their Christchurch bases and are open to staff moving to Christchurch from other offices, says the talent specialist.

And if you’re lucky you might get paid to move there. Companies like Spark, Datacom, PwC offer good relocation packages and the same salary as you’d be earning in a bigger city. Karen knows of couples gaining $25,000 a year by making the move because they’re staying on the same salary and living somewhere more affordable. According to Trade Me Property Price Index for January, the average asking price of a three to four bedroom home in Christchurch is $754,250.

How does the Christchurch NZ talent specialist think local businesses will do in a recession in 2023? “We tend to have more SMEs (small and medium enterprises)who can be more resilient in tough times. While big US tech companies are doing layoffs, we tend to have different types of tech which are not as vulnerable in a recession,” says the talent specialist.

With the incredible growth seen in jobs advertised, it’s a great place to grow your career and look for more opportunities, plus it’s affordable to rent or buy a home and then there’s the lifestyle. “You can live a more balanced life because it’s a compact city, it takes 20 minutes to get anywhere,” says Karen.

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