ColinNZ

Hello everyone,

I was born in NZ but moved at about three years old to sunny England. Now, I think I would be quite keen on moving "back" to good old NZ. I obviously won't need to worry about residence etc, or work permits and stuff. Currently I am working in IT and would like to do the same over there.

Obviously I don't remember a great deal from when I was three, so would be keen to hear anything about the IT market etc.

Over here, I am on £50K/year so how much of a pay cut am I likely to get over there? Is that a lot for a typical IT person in Auckland or Wellington?

How much am I looking at for a small house in a nice area close to town? I am currently spending an hour each way commuting and would really love to bring that down to 1/2 hour or less if possible. I believe that there is now a motorway out to HowickPakuranga etc?

Are the racial problems still so bad over there? Are large parts of south auckland still a bit of a no-go zone after dark if you are white or has it settled down a bit?

Looking forward to more sun, more time at home, and less RUSH!!

ColinNZ

No IT people or people living in/going to NZ?

seang

cant help you on most but
as regards pay cut - i would say its a definite.I am looking at Aus and am figuring on a major salary cut in IT.

re:gang probs welshbillyboy posted a thread yesterday and responses seem to say yes it is as bad.

maybe worth your while to bring this back to the top for when New Zealand awakens and comes online

jandjuk

Hi Colin,

I'm not currently in NZ, but was last there about 3 years ago - the IT job market's changed a lot since then but I'll attempt to answer your questions as best I can (though you'll probably get better info by doing a search and looking over old threads).

What exactly do you do in IT? This will make a difference, but anyway you look at it you will be taking a substantial paycut. I would think senior IT manager type roles in Wellington or Auck could be NZ$80000 and above, but most people in IT would earn between NZ$40000 to NZ$70000. If you convert this into pounds you will get a fright, but a better way to look at it is to double it - ie to get a comparable standard of living that £50K gives you, you would need to earn NZ$100K

The property market in NZ is crazy at the moment - you could easily be looking at NZ$500000 to get what you describe above (in Auck and Wgtn).

If you're prepared to take an even bigger pay cut, AND can line up a good job, it might worth heading for smaller centre, where (sometimes) property is cheaper, and the commute would definitely be shorter.

I'm not very up to date with particular parts of Sth Auckland, but I would think quite a few parts would still be no-go after dark. These things rarely get better - usually worse....

Have a look at www.open2view.com or www.realenz.co.nz for property and www.jobstuff.co.nz for jobs

Best of luck

ColinNZ

Thanks very much for the info. I was expecting to take a pay cut because things are cheaper there from what I hear so I am not too worried about it.

House prices sound quite high, but hopefully I can get some capital together to take over.

Thanks fort he links.