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Doing for themselves what
their country By Yvette Adams John F Kennedy once asked his fellow Americans to ask not what their country could do for them, but to ask what they could do for their country. Young, qualified and skilled New Zealanders are (like it or not) turning that phrase around. And, their country just isn't doing it for them, so they're leaving.
Just like their fore-fathers left the UK and Europe to seek a new and more fruitful life in quarter-acre-half-gallon-pavlova-paradise two centuries ago, young Kiwis have for the last 25 years been leaving Aotearoa in droves. It's certainly not in search of pastures greener (for there's surely plenty of them in NZ) but it's more in pursuit of lucrative, and exciting posts overseas. It is difficult to estimate the number of NZ citizens who currently live overseas on a permanent and/or long-term basis. However, based on figures obtained from overseas countries on NZ-born populations, a rough estimate is between 500,000 - 600,000. That's about 14%, or one-eighth, of the current population of New Zealand that was 3.83 million at the end of March this year. What would happen if they all came home? Some say we'd sink. More likely there would be an increase in sales of fish n chips, Cookietimes, L&P, Watties baked beans and hokey pokey ice-cream for the first few weeks. There is no doubt that New Zealand has caught up with many things they once lagged behind in on the international stage, and entered the new millennium on a more sophisticated, technologically orientated and much celebrated par with the rest of the world.
Walk down any main street of the larger cities in New Zealand now and wine bars galore, trendy cafes and a multitude of multi-cultural restaurants will greet you. The recently opened national museum, Te Papa, using innovative interactive displays to attract huge numbers is internationally acclaimed as a model for cultural curation – it’s creative staff headhunted to carry out projects such as Berlin’s Jewish Museum. The current New Zealand Government must be one of the most politically correct in the world with a Rastafarian and a transexual parliamentarian, so it can't be any form of political asylum young Kiwis leaving are seeking. With women in all of our major constitutional positions and our second woman prime minister after being the first country in the world to give women the vote in 1893, its certainly not sexist repression they're escaping either. We're techie enough. We've had eftpos for 10 years now as well as being staunchly environmentally conscious and nuclear free. We're ranked as one of the most internet savvy countries in the world, with web-sites which regularly reach international acclaim. Our film industry is growing all the time. The world is eagerly awaiting the release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, one of Hollywood's biggest film projects ever and currently being filmed in New Zealand and directed by a New Zealander, Peter Jackson.
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So why are New Zealand's "brains" being "drained" into the sweeping currents of the Pacific Ocean and washed up at more lucrative posts overseas? Could it be a restless inner-spirit, an adventurous streak, a need to travel that is instilled in us from our ancestors both Pakeha and Maori? Or could it be that kids who grew up in the eighties playing on their Commadore 64's and Ataris have now blossomed into adults who are well in tune with Cable TV and the Internet, that are too fast-paced for their own good. More than ever before it seems they are exposed to a multitude of opportunities and other stimulus overseas, and chase them.
"At the most I would come home and then leave again after a couple of years. I thrive on change and welcome the challenge of moving out of my comfort zone. The barriers of learning new languages and adapting to a new culture is enriching and character building. I do hope to settle down one day but when and where that happens is anybody's guess," she explains. 29-year-old Steven Leavy was born in Napier and has been working, living and travelling overseas on and off for the last 11 years. 3 of these years have been spent in different areas of London. He first left New Zealand as a disillusioned 18 year old in the mid eighties, when unemployment in the Hawkes Bay, his home region, was sky high. "I had just left school and I was applying for loads and loads of jobs and getting down to the last two or three people and then just missing out. After trying for months on end I decided to take off to Perth, Australia where I had some other family. There I earned much better money than I ever have in New Zealand." Leavy predicts New Zealand will continue to wave goodbye to its younger populations on a long term or permanent basis - "I think of New Zealand as a good place to grow up and a good place to retire. In those years in between though, it often just doesn't 'do it' for young people. They need something more. I think that's why so many of them take off." He says many of his friends who originally did their OE in London in 1995 and 1996, returned to New Zealand but after a short time there became restless again and ended up moving to Australia, or if visas permitted, heading back over to the Northern Hemisphere, often the UK.
Monika Conway, a 25-year-old who grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, has been working as an industrial designer for IDEO Product Development in Silicon Valley for the last six months, and for two years previously was at Designworks BMW/USA in Los Angeles. She says she never would have been able to do her chosen career in the capacity she is now if she had not left New Zealand. "There is a lack of opportunities for talented individuals. They miss out on contributing their skills in New Zealand and therefore move overseas and make an impact in other countries. It's a shame really," she says. "I'm working for the largest and most prestigious international design consultancy in the world. I would not have the chance to do this in New Zealand. I chose the career direction out of pure interest and passion. I'm overseas to gain international experience which will help me where ever I end up," she explains. In 1973, the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement was introduced which allowed Australian and New Zealand citizens to move freely between the two countries for visits or to live and work, without any visa restrictions. In 1999 alone, 27,800 New Zealand citizens crossed the Tasman Sea to settle in Australia on a permanent basis. And most of these were of working age. Of the New Zealand citizens who were born in other Oceanic countries like Samoa, Tonga and Fiji that immigrated to Australia last year, the majority (62%) were aged 20-44 years. Another 35% of New Zealand citizens who were born in New Zealand that immigrated last year were aged 20-34 years and 22% were aged under 10 years, indicating that a vast amount of young families with young children are also immigrating. Some argue that if New Zealand and Australia were to unify their currency, at least New Zealand's economy could benefit from its New Zealanders working in Australia. With the baby-boomers ageing daily, this added financial support could be welcomed. Another common place for New Zealanders to escape to is the place many of their grandparents and great grandparents escaped from, the UK and, in particular, London. According to information from the British Home Office, there are approximately 31,000 New Zealanders currently living and working in the UK (15,000 males and 16,000 females). Over 209,000 New Zealanders are admitted into the UK every year who then disperse into Europe and other surrounding areas. "I think that there are so many more opportunities over here in every industry and the proprensity to earn is so much greater. Especially given the current weakness of the NZ dollar compared to the British pound," says Kerry McKay who was brought up in Auckland and is currently on her second trip to the UK. "There is no simply no faster way for me to reduce my mortgage on my property in New Zealand than earning pounds here and sending lump sums back home as dollars. The downside is that while there are greater opportunities to earn more, there are equally greater opportunities to spend it here, whatever lifestyle you choose." 
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And he says it's not the stereotypical pub and nanny work that they're necessarily doing either. "There are a lot of Kiwis that are doing very important roles within the work place and would be classed very equal to their English colleagues. Pay rates are also a very touchy subject in a lot of work places as most English are on a salary based jobs while most kiwis are working on contract or temping that have pay rates that are generally higher." He says in his experience, 99.9% of employers in London would have no hesitation in employing a kiwi if they have had one before, "Kiwis have very good reputations here. We also have a very high work ethic. I think we give a lot, but also all, if not most, leave with a very big improvement in skills and knowledge." Stuart says he believes the number of Kiwis coming over has increased over time. "I think it is becoming the trend to travel straight after Uni or at least a year after," he says. For many other young New Zealanders, the lure of overseas also becomes strong when they're at a loose end, say, in between jobs or had a relationship break up or if things generally aren't going their way. "I think leaving it all behind often seems like a good option to young Kiwis," says Sally Brooker who has been away from New Zealand for one and a half years and is now based in London after a stint working in Edinburgh. "It's not easy saving the money to leave or making the initial break from home either, so once you do it you feel quite compelled to give being overseas a really good shot," she says.
As visa opportunities open up in other countries, Kiwis are also opting for more exotic locations than the usual haunts of Sydney and London. Kiwis can now take up a working holiday for up to a year in Southern Ireland, Holland, France and Canada. A little bit of good old 'Kiwi ingenuity' often sees many other young New Zealanders finding their way around overseas systems (sometimes illegally!) and working in even more exotic locations. Adrian Clarke, 24 year old from Gisborne has been living and working in Heredia, Costa Rica for the last three months as a customer services representative for an offshore sports betting agency. He says even though he is only getting $4US an hour, he is doing it for lifestyle reasons but predominantly for financial gain. "It's a far cry from why I am accustomed to being paid in New Zealand but on relative terms it is a good rate of pay here in Central America and I am able to save quite a bit of money. I am actually doing this for financial reasons." He says he has a return ticket to return home later this year, and will be back even sooner, if the dollar "gets its shit together." With the advent of the internet, many Kiwis are also finding their way out, on-line. There are now a multitude of international recruitment agencies with web-sites where it is possible to post a copy of their current CV and pick and choose roles they are interested in and in what international location. The sites then automatically contact people who fit the criteria of the vast number of available roles. Video-conferencing for interviews on-line, and e-mail also make the on-line recruitment and transition to live in another country much, much smoother. Jane McLoughlin, a 19 year old from Napier who has been working as an au pair in Holland for the past 9 months admits the internet came to the rescue for her - "I needed something quick as my friend I was travelling with went home to NZ. I found this job through the internet on a website called www.aupairs.co.uk. The internet is certainly helping with ease of travel and communication for young people. You can now log on to sites like TNT magazine and the gum tree and find other people who are looking for travel partners or jobs, accommodation, what's happening in the weekend.
There are lots of sites that are aimed at Antipodeans (kiwis)
to help them organise it before even arriving overseas," she says. |
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In 1999, 873 New Zealand students and adults were involved in AFS exchanges with 32 countries. "We have no firm statistics to prove whether AFS exchange students continue to travel throughout their lives," says AFS New Zealand Communications Manager, Michelle Tayler. "However, anecdotal evidence suggests that they do, as many keep in touch with the families and friends they met on their exchange and they visit each other at intervals throughout their lives." Tayler warns that the impact of New Zealand families hosting international students should also not be underestimated. "It (exchanges) often have a similar effects as when a New Zealander goes away in that a foreign student living in a local NZ community opens the minds of those in contact with that student to cultural differences, international awareness, adaptability etc. Also, those who host students from overseas often comment that they learn a lot about New Zealand and its cultures through the eyes of their hosted student" Last year 611 international students came to NZ. AFS New Zealand's research into why their participants choose to go on an exchange in the first place may offer some insight into why Kiwis chose to go on OE. "There are a variety of reasons participants choose to go on exchange but many are to do with personal growth and intercultural and language learning," she explains. "Increasingly, many also recognise the options it opens up in terms of future employment Brett Adams, a 21 year old from Wellingtons ticket to freedom was not an AFS scholarship but a water polo scholarship to a school in San Jose, California where he has been for the past 2 years now. On top of paying for his annual fees and books, his current school, West Valley in San Jose, also arranged a job for him. For a few hours each day, he coaches 5-12 year old kids in swimming, for which he gets paid $15US per hour. "There is no way that I could be getting such a sweet deal for my education in New Zealand as what I am here. At home you have to pay to play on the national team! Not only am I getting a free education from a reputable school, I am playing the sport that I love and getting paid more per hour than I would in New Zealand doing the same job. There is so much opportunity here and it is cheaper to live. I would only return to New Zealand now as a last resort," he says. 25 year old Sara Williams who is originally from Christchurch on the other hand says she will definitely be back. For the past 2 and a half years she has been based in Melbourne where she is currently working in human resources with a recruitment agency, a fill in job while the MA she completed in Melbourne is marked.
Where ever Kiwis are, and what ever their reason is for living miles away from their homeland, you are almost guaranteed that they will proudly illustrate the amazing experiences they have had since travelling, living and working overseas. Their ultra-friendliness and helpful, hard-working nature usually wins over even the most hardened and hostile foreigners, even if some do regard Kiwis as naive, innocent or even a bit forth-comingly weird. However in the same conversation Kiwis will also almost certainly stoically describe how wonderful their far off island paradise is or how well the All Blacks have done recently. They're fiercely proud of where they come from, even if they do choose not to live there.
Yvette Adams is a freelance journalist. She has
been working and travelling abroad on and off for two and a half years. She
is currently settled in London. |
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Statistics:
The latest population of NZ residents has been estimated at 3.83 million (31/3/2000.) The number of NZ residents leaving each year on a permanent and long-term (PLT) basis peaked in 1979 and 1980 at around 59,000 in both years, at 58,500 in 1989 and has been on the increase since 1993 and by trend is heading for an all time high in 2000. Statistics NZ figures show that over the last three decades (1971-2000 March years) 558,000 NZ citizens went abroad on a permanent and/or long-term basis. Over the whole decade of the 1990's there were only 609,000 permanent arrivals (3/5 overseas citizens and 2/5 NZ citizens returning). By contrast 510,000 exited (3/4 NZ ctizens and 1/4 overseas citizens leaving). This resulted in a small net gain of 99,000 permanent and long term migrants, one of the lowest population growths in the world. Australia on the other hand continues to grow. The proportion of overseas-born New Zealand citizens migrating to Australia permanently has increased by an average of 6% each year from 1979 to 1999.
For further information: New Zealand Government Statistics Australian Immigration Statistics Netherlands Embassy in New Zealand AFS
Exchange Programme: Inland
Revenue Department of New Zealand Special thanks to: Mike Chan, Senior Demographer,
Statistics NZ |
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"I demand a lot from my lifestyle, and I think a lot of other
young Kiwis do also," says Debbie Matoe a 28 year old ex-Cantabrian
who teaches English for the British Council in Caracas, Venezuela.
"In fact I think it could be a generation thing," she adds.
Debbie left NZ in 1996 for London and met her Argentine fiancee whilst
touring in Italy. Since then she has been lived and worked in Rosario,
Argentina; Parma Italy and now in Venezuela though she also returns to New
Zealand each netball season to compete for the Capital Shakers in the Coca
Cola Cup, the national netball league. She says she does intend to
continue to return to New Zealand, but not on a permanent basis -
"I will absolutely return to New Zealand one day. I can't imagine
living anywhere else to have children and so on. I miss the clean air,
good fish and chips, the space, my family and trees!!! However in the
meantime I am here for financial reasons."
