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High demand for tech-savvy knowledge workers across NZ: Hays

High demand for tech-savvy knowledge workers across NZ: Hays

List includes DevOps engineers, UX designers and digital business analysts

They are highly skilled and experienced and use their extensive technical expertise to think of the right solution to the issue at hand

Jason Walker, Hays NZ


The demand for knowledge workers is increasing across New Zealand as employers recruit these highly-skilled professionals to add immediate value and adapt to the rapidly changing and digitising world of work, according to recruitment company Hays.

Of the new jobs added to the latest Hays Quarterly Report of skills in demand (for October to December 2016), “almost all” require knowledge workers, particularly those who are technologically savvy, reports Hays.

"A growing number of knowledge-intensive jobs are now available, but there is often a shortage of suitably skilled, experienced and educated candidates for these roles,” says Jason Walker, managing director,Hays New Zealand, in a statement.

"These include financial analyst, architecture, structural engineering, corporate commercial solicitor and digital project manager jobs, all of which require highly-skilled professionals who perform non-routine tasks.

Layer this with the ever-increasing need for technology and digital skills across most job functions and the talent pool is tightening," he states.

Hays explains candidates with these skills are known as 'knowledge workers' because they require a large amount of knowledge to succeed in the role. They are highly skilled and experienced and use their extensive technical expertise to think of the right solution to the issue at hand.

IT 'hotspots'

In information technology, Hays lists a range of “hotspots of demand”.

Demand for DevOps engineers has been increasing as organisations move their infrastructure environment from localised storage to cloud based servers, reports Hays.

Top level principal and technical leads are in demand too, says Hays. “Quality Lead Developers for both .Net Developers and Java are in short supply.”

Front-end developers are sought after by firms wanting candidates who are passionate about pure front-end development, says Hays. “This is an area that has seen rapid change and continues to do so. Therefore, there is very much a need to keep abreast of trending and emerging technologies.”

Full stack developers at both the intermediate and senior levels are in demand. Hays says there is more emphasis on developers being technically agnostic across both front and back end.

Native iOS and android developers are sought within the contract market which is relatively buoyant and lucrative for those at the senior level, says Hays. Traditional in-house Android Developers are able to increase their annual earnings substantially at a number of large corporate and enterprise level organisations. Senior candidates moving into contract roles create opportunities for intermediate level developers to progress to the next stage in their career.

Senior automation testers with proven ability to establish automation frameworks and strategies at the enterprise level are also in high demand.

Meanwhile, UI and UX designers who are savvy with an experienced blend across both UX and UI are considered an asset.

Digital business analysts and project managers are sought due to rapid growth within the digital space. “Soft skills are valued equally if not higher than technical skills and make the difference between candidates,” reports Hays..

Solution architects and enterprise architects are in demand across multiple industries including consulting. Organisations are putting more value on their architecture practice to enable the business and the technical divisions to collaborate and communicate efficiently to deliver solutions that improve the business, says Hays.

Demand for e-commerce and mobility specialists are very much of interest across a wide range of industries, it concludes.

Send news tips and comments to divina_paredes@idg.co.nz

Follow Divina Paredes on Twitter: @divinap

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Tags skills shortageHaysUIengineeringUXknowledge workersJason Walker

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