Tech Sector Innovation Driving IT Job Growth in New Zealand

The city of Wellington was recently named the High Tech Capital of the country of New Zealand. This has been the result of numerous tech successes such as Trade Me, Datacom, and Xero. Wellington’s key rival, Auckland, is also creating a name for itself in IT innovation in the region.

The IT sector in Auckland has grown by 80 percent over the last decade. This has seen more than 6,700 companies offering employment to approximately 31,000 people. In turn, it has led to a 55 percent contribution to the country’s GDP for the industry. With the population expected to rise from 1.5 million to 2.5 million people by 2040, a 30-year plan exists to support this growth.

The focus on growth by the city is ideal for the IT sector. Seventy-five percent of Auckland’s IT employers have plans to recruit additional staff in the next year. As such, this city is home to industry bigwigs such as Oracle, Microsoft, Sharp, Huawei, Dell, and HP. There has also been an increase in startups such as Mako Networks, Vend, and TranscribeMe. Due to this, IT skills are in high demand, particularly for business analysis, data/database, project management, and software development, which have replaced network, testing, and infrastructure as the most sought-after skills. Emerging tech trends that have led to growth in the sector include cybersecurity (69%), data mining and analysis (54%), and private cloud services (61%).