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'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

theguardian.com

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Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#41

Post by untog »

ponzored wrote: post #28
madaxe_again wrote: post #9

They have a really odd way to attract tech talent.... I exited my startup in the uk two years ago, successfully, leaving a successful and growing technology business behind. I have several ideas which I am prepared to self-fund up to £0.5M, and want a good environment in which to start a new business. I know coders in NZ, and they’re a talented bunch, we began to hatch a plan. In short, the NZ gov’t don’t want it. Th…

Just sign up for a degree at a degree mill and you'll get a student visa and an easy route to permanent residency. New Zealand (and Australia) don't care about quality migrants, just quantity, to keep up demand for housing (both countries have housing-bubble-based economies) and to add extra consumption to national GDP. The migrants they really want are Indians who can put downwards pressure on wages. Go to Auckland,…

Irrespective of anything else, I had to laugh at the description of one of the most beautiful places in the planet as the "ass-end of the world".

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#42

Post by xupybd »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #16
xupybd wrote: post #7

I’m in New Zealand. My friends are really struggling to get work here. Employers here are really tough on Chinese developers. Immigration is even tougher. I think our government needs to address these issues if we want more skilled workers.

I presume you mean employers? Can you define tough? And immigration is a doddle if you're on the skills shortage list and have sufficient English.

I did mean employers sorry. I’ll admit a sample size of 2 is nothing to go by but I’ve seen Chinese and Indians struggle for months to get interviews while other less talented developer easily get jobs. Admittedly both were poor at self promotion.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#43

Post by adventured »

tzfld wrote: post #11

>Two guys in a garage Is this urban legend still taken seriously? I mean, it was a thing 40 years ago, but now there is hardly anyone "with nothing to lose" that can reach anywhere without a good amount of luck.

I'm one guy in a home office starting up a new company. The garage would be a terrible alternative.

Been doing it this way since 1996. It's just as much fun as it was then, when you've landed on something that excites you. There's still a vast amount of land to explore.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#44

Post by dwightgunning »

cr1895 wrote: post #22
dwightgunning wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is lame though to be fair to NZ I've come across similar requirements in other countries too. Over the years I've happened to be invited to discussions with policy makers in both The Netherlands (2013) and Australia (2016) and as far as I know they came up with similar policies. Further back I recall taking a look at Germany (~2012) and it was also onerous. The main takeaway I had was that constructing a set of…

For what it's worth, it's relatively simple for an American to open a business and gain residency in the Netherlands through the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty.

That's true and definitely worth noting. In NL it is a very easy path compared to the one non-US citizens need to navigate.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#45

Post by iagovar »

ponzored wrote: post #31
doktrin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Employees here are really tough on Chinese developers. Immigration is even tougher Can you elaborate on this? I'm just curious.

In New Zealand and Australia Indian and Chinese workers are essentially seen as replaceable due to the huge numbers of them migrating to both countries (those countries make up the #1 and #2 sources of migrants respectively). The whole point of the migration schemes are to get workers for cheap and to put downwards pressure on wages. A very high skill level is not really required, and big companies will just throw bo…

Exactly the same situation in Spain, except not even foreign workers are needed to put donward pressure on wages...

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#46

Post by kalleboo »

madaxe_again wrote: post #9

They have a really odd way to attract tech talent.... I exited my startup in the uk two years ago, successfully, leaving a successful and growing technology business behind. I have several ideas which I am prepared to self-fund up to £0.5M, and want a good environment in which to start a new business. I know coders in NZ, and they’re a talented bunch, we began to hatch a plan. In short, the NZ gov’t don’t want it. Th…

> I’m now looking elsewhere

Have you found anything? Singapore also requires a VC; Japan has a startup visa but there you have a quite steep language/cultural barrier... If you're from the UK it seems like your main option is inside the EU (until Brexit at least)

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#47

Post by kalleboo »

tzfld wrote: post #11

>Two guys in a garage Is this urban legend still taken seriously? I mean, it was a thing 40 years ago, but now there is hardly anyone "with nothing to lose" that can reach anywhere without a good amount of luck.

Also who can afford a garage these days?

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#48

Post by peterburkimsher »

I'm trying to get a job in New Zealand right now. In 2012 I was there on Working Holiday, and did a summer job writing control systems code for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare in Auckland.

By 2014 I'd visited a few more countries and shortlisted destinations: New Zealand (Skilled Migrant Category), Canada (Express Entry), or Australia (subclass 186).

Now I'm trying to apply, but most listings on Seek require already having the "right to live and work in this location". I need the job to get the work visa.

I sent many applications, without success. I updated my LinkedIn, rewrote my résumé several times based on conflicting advice, and asked a recruiter to help - but still no interviews. I posted several side projects here on Hacker News, but they didn't reach the front page. My current contract making microSD cards for OSE in Taiwan lasts until the end of the year, but I can leave earlier.

Please contact me if you have any idea about immigration-friendly employers, recruiters, websites - anything helps.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#49

Post by TomK32 »

jlebrech wrote: post #33
tzfld wrote: post #11

>Two guys in a garage Is this urban legend still taken seriously? I mean, it was a thing 40 years ago, but now there is hardly anyone "with nothing to lose" that can reach anywhere without a good amount of luck.

it's one guy and a standing desk now

that's me :D

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#50

Post by yarg »

prebrov wrote: post #34
madaxe_again wrote: post #9

They have a really odd way to attract tech talent.... I exited my startup in the uk two years ago, successfully, leaving a successful and growing technology business behind. I have several ideas which I am prepared to self-fund up to £0.5M, and want a good environment in which to start a new business. I know coders in NZ, and they’re a talented bunch, we began to hatch a plan. In short, the NZ gov’t don’t want it. Th…

I'm not in NZ, but seriously considered it as a destination. I agree with you, the article has nothing to do with reality and is just wishful thinking or, more likely, a PR shill paid up by NZ's foreign promotion board or however they're called. Jacinda Ardern had a strong anti-immigration position during her campaign, she literally promised to cut immigration by 20'000-30'000 per year, from 70'000. No surprise that…

There's a huge number of low skill immigrants in New Zealand, they don't really add that much to the country.

I don't imagine that any restrictions on immigration would significantly impact skilled workers.

That said, I don't understand why we would possibly have a requirement of VC involvement when the already money is there to actually do the work.

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