In the past 15 years, New Zealand has produced nine unicorns — billion-dollar value companies — as well as many high-growth businesses.
For a small country, we punch above our weight and this is especially true for our tech sector. The Technology Investment Network expects NZ tech exports to outstrip dairy in the next three to five years. Despite the industry being primed for growth, it will be limited unless NZ's immigration policy enables growing tech companies to hire the best global talent.
The challenge of sourcing top tech talent
NZ unicorns such as Rocket Lab, Pushpay, LanzaTech and Xero have built their success by drawing on the best talent from NZ and around the world. Sourcing this top tech talent can be a major business challenge in the best of times. In a 2019 PWC survey NZ CEOs ranked availability of technology skills as one of the most significant threats to business growth in this country.
The current pandemic, and resulting halt on immigration, has accentuated NZ's talent shortage. NZ tech companies compete in a cut throat global arena, and the shortage puts us at an immediate disadvantage. Yet there is no need to be on the back foot. As a country, we have many attractive propositions for global talent. NZ is safe, entrepreneurial, liveable, and it’s consistently ranked as a top place to do business.
These are some of the reasons I based IMAGR in Auckland. Our company is mostly made up of homegrown Kiwi talent, but we rely on several international technology experts. The drawcard of life in NZ has been an incredible tool to secure these experts. We're developing an end-to-end system that removes the need to wait in line at supermarket checkouts. When a customer puts an item into one of our SmartCart's it’s automatically recognised by our computer vision artificial intelligence. We fully integrate with the supermarket backend, so at the end of a shop, the customer just walks out, no checkout, no queue.
Our competitors include the likes of global giant Amazon, so we need to have the very best minds to stay at the front of the pack.
immigration policy a needless business risk
Maintaining a secure border is incredibly important for NZ. We need to find a way to bring people in who can help us kickstart economic growth, without compromising our border. Our government has granted exemptions to overseas film crews and golf course designers. The tech industry, which generated over $8.7 billion worth of export last year, seems like a no brainer.
IMAGR is currently in a key growth stage. We are already live with our SmartCart in Japan with one of its leading retailers, and will soon be expanding our presence. To support our efforts, we’ve been adding to our rapidly growing team. In one ongoing case, we’re trying to bring in an incredibly talented woman from Taiwan who fits Immigration NZ’s requirements, but we’ve hit a brick wall.
The application process is slow. After making the initial submission we did not receive a response for three weeks. The random updates that have come through don’t have any timelines. We’ve offered to pay for transport, housing and quarantine measures, but so far we’ve been blankly refused. We have even tried going through different MPs, and called on the help of NZTE, Callaghan Innovation and immigration experts, but our ideal candidate is still waiting in limbo.
It’s now been three months since the process began. When you’re trying to attract world-class talent, this is a near impossible hurdle.
Fit for purpose policy will speed recovery
Fostering business growth and speeding up economic recovery will require the government to develop an immigration policy that is capable of meeting two functions: the ability to remain a covid safe-haven and obtain the best talent in the world. These functions are not mutually exclusive and will most likely not cost the NZ taxpayer a cent as the hiring businesses can cover quarantine fees.
For the economy to benefit from the opportunity we have at hand we need an immigration policy that’s transparent, fast and backed by a steady flow of communication.
We need a smart policy with a well-crafted process mechanism that allows businesses to apply and track their applications more easily. This will ensure NZ doesn't fall behind in the race to develop world-class technology and enable us to take that technology to new markets.
From bureaucratic brick walls to business breakthroughs
In the current environment, one way businesses can advance is by outsourcing their work to overseas companies. However, this is a short-term strategy that overlooks the long-term gains of bringing in vital skills to benefit our economy. Overseas talent cannot only fill the necessary skills gap, it can also help grow internal talent and that will lead to a more robust economy.
Callaghan Innovation recently announced an experience grants scheme that encourages business owners to bring in skilled students to help drive firms' research and development activities. Learning and development is a vital part of the modern workplace and skills do get passed down. Imagine the economic flow-on we would experience if these students had the opportunity to work with the best homegrown and international talent.
The companies of the future will always be predominantly built around NZ employees, but we can't shut our eyes to the fact we will always need help from the best that's out there. We have the perfect pastures to breed more unicorns. Now let’s get the right farmhands to raise them.
William Chomley is founder and CEO of IMAGR
