A shortage of skills in the Kapiti region has led Unisys to move 20 of its service desk roles to Wellington. Managing director Brett Hodgson says that, in the short term, the move will cost the company more but that it had to be done so Unisys could ramp up rapidly to meet service needs in expected growth areas.
“I’ve met with the mayor of Kapiti and with Social Development… [to discuss] training programmes,” he says. “But the specific skills we need are limited in Kapiti.”
By way of example, Unisys was recently able to hire 20 people in Wellington in a shorter period than it took to hire just three people in Kapiti.
However, there is no problem with finding skills for Unisys’ datacentre in Kapiti, which the company has spent millions of dollars on to double in size.
Hodgson says he is in discussions with the staff who will be relocating and is considering offering a transitioning contribution. Travel costs from Kapiti to Wellington could be as much as $100 a week.
“With increased demand from clients abroad and in New Zealand, basing the roles in Wellington provides access to a larger resource pool to recruit from,” he says.
“For customers, this means that our service desk and desktop teams will be based in the same location, to allow for more effective internal coordination and service to our clients.”