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Covid-19 is driving home a wave of talented New Zealanders, many of them at the height of their careers and considered lost to the country, according to a Kea survey of 15,000 expats.
Distinguished Professor Sir Peter Gluckman said that the caliber of the returnees was unusual and that the Covid-19 pandemic was a key factor.
“Clearly, New Zealand’s response in contrast to global impacts has caused many offshore kiwis with vast experience and talent to think about returning to contribute to New Zealand.
“This includes a significant number in an age range and talent pool at the height of their game, who were previously assumed to be unlikely to return,” said Gluckman, who participated in the analysis of the ‘Welcome Home Survey. ‘.
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Many talented New Zealanders living abroad are considering returning home, Kea’s survey shows.
The survey showed that the pandemic was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for New Zealand, and many of the more than a million kiwis living abroad were hoping to return home, Kea CEO Toni Truslove said.
“Kiwis are coming home as usual, but the newly identified trend sees a large volume of kiwis returning at the peak of their careers, with many of the skills that New Zealand as a nation really needs.”
Teachers and health workers are among New Zealanders looking to return, two areas that would give the country a potential advantage, he said in a statement.
The main industry for people who wanted to return was technology.
“And with a large majority planning to stay permanently, bringing family, pets and investment, as well as the desire to give back to their communities, this group has the potential to be incredibly transformative for New Zealand, now and in the future,” Truslove said.
Three-quarters of those who planned to return intended to do so permanently.
Most of the people had been absent for at least five years, were between the ages of 35 and 54, and held positions of responsibility or were business owners.
About a third planned to return to Auckland, but the rest were considering other parts of the country, he said.
A fifth of those surveyed planned to invest in a business and 11 percent hoped to start their own business.
Katie Scotcher / RNZ
Professor Paul Spoonley says that employers and others must accept these newcomers.
About two-thirds identified with progressive rather than traditional values.
The country had to make the most of this brain gain, said Xero’s chief product officer, Anna Curzon.
“Their experience abroad means they can bring new perspectives to the problems we need to solve,” said Curzon.
“They will help revitalize the job market as both potential employees and employers, and ultimately give us the ability to continue to innovate and produce world-class products and services.”
For some of those surveyed, the country would be quite different from the one they left, and New Zealand needed to support returnees, said distinguished professor Paul Spoonley, who also participated in the survey analysis.
“New Zealand has more skilled population abroad than any other OECD country. But they are coming home, bringing with them skills and experience that make them an extremely important addition to our economy and society.
“It is critical that if this is to happen, employers and others must embrace these newcomers and use their skills and experience, and their willingness to give.”
Truslove said that the number of people who were thinking of going home was surprising.
“We thought there would be some interest in going home as a result of what’s happening in the world right now, but we were quite surprised by that number, and also over the time period, because it was 50 percent of kiwis in a term of four years.
“So what that tells me is that it is not something that will happen in the next few months and then it will die out, it will be a long-term trend for Kiwis who want to go home, and that surprised me too.”
Even if the pandemic is brought under control in the near future, “once something like Covid-19 happens in your world, it really shakes your sense of security.
“Even if world events start to roll in a little bit, what was overwhelmingly apparent in the survey is that people want to be close to their family, and there is no other country in the world that can offer them that.”
Seven percent of those surveyed have already returned, and the rest are divided fairly evenly between those who plan to return in the next two years and those who return in more than two years.
Most of the people were in the UK, followed by Australia, the US, Canada, and China. Friends, family, and lifestyle were the top two reasons for returning to New Zealand.
Twenty percent already owned investment property in New Zealand. Of those who have already returned or plan to return within the next two years, 62 percent planned to purchase residential property.
Problems finding housing had not been reflected in the survey results, Truslove said.
