Hays New Zealand jobs & employment blog

During COVID-19 Australia’s workforce navigated enormous challenges and went above and beyond to help their employer respond to the crisis and chart their way through recovery and back to growth. Yet at the same time, many organisations cut rewards and recognition, leaving a lot of people feeling overworked and disengaged, ready to jump ship as soon as they can in 2021. After all, 2020...

For many people, the start of a New Year is a good time to wave goodbye to bad habits and look ahead to new beginnings. We take time out from our usually busy lives to consider what we want to achieve, improve and learn to make the year ahead more successful than the last.  After a tumultuous 2020, most people are certainly looking forward to a better 2021. COVID-19 thwarted career...

Research indicates that temp workers suffer from adverse mental health for a variety of reasons, many of them due to the working patterns and job insecurity inherent to temp work.   As a temp worker, you may sometimes feel disposable or replaceable, as a result of inconsistent and irregular work, which can impact negatively on your mental health.   Temps can help...

The festive season is upon us and most of us are looking forward to a well-earned break to rest and catch up with friends and family – even if some of us are having to do that virtually. There is a tendency to see this period as “downtime”, and so it should be; you have worked hard for it all year after all. And what a year it has been.   However, if you are already dreading going...

“What is Area 51?”, “How to eat pineapple”, “How to floss dance”. These are just three of the most searched for questions and phrases of 2019. In fact, every second of every day, we ask Google over 40,000 of these factual, monotonous, fun, interesting, and, quite frankly, bizarre questions, making it the most visited site on the planet by far.   It’ll be no surprise either that...

Whether it’s just for the evening, the weekend or you’re taking a well-deserved break on holiday, it can be hard to stop the never-ending to-do list whizzing through your mind. If you find it hard to relax and let go of work when you leave the office, you’re not on your own. We’re ever more connected these days and with the ability to check email from anywhere and the temptation to remotely...

What skills will be in greatest demand in 2021? The world of work and the skills required are constantly changing – this year more than most. So, whether you’re looking to get hired or add to your team, it pays to keep informed and understand the most in-demand skills for the year ahead.   With many organisations returning to growth and looking to protect their future, it’s no...

If you are looking to advance your career in New Zealand’s 2021 job market, it’ll require a determined and strategic effort to stand out and a willingness to disrupt your pre-COVID-19 job searching model.   There’s no denying that COVID-19 has – and will continue to have – a hugely disruptive effect on everything to do with the world of work. We’re working differently, collaborating...

2020 has been a year of disruption like no other. The devastating bushfires that ravaged over 18 million hectares of Australia were swiftly followed by COVID-19, the worst pandemic in recent history. Tragedy and turmoil trailed in its wake. But this crisis also forced us to pivot, innovate and adopt solutions that may otherwise have taken years to achieve.    In the world of...

  If you’ve found yourself in the position of being made redundant, don’t be afraid of communicating it clearly on your CV and in a job interview.    When addressing your redundancy on your CV, include any relevant and appropriate background information, such as the department or organisation needing to downsize, and ensure you highlight your key achievements in the...

For many professionals, maintaining a work-life balance at the best of times can be difficult. Add children to the equation and working parents suddenly find themselves facing heightened challenges. While it can feel overwhelming, knowing how to balance work and family commitments will help you juggle your professional life with parenthood.    Although most organisations now...

Strategically managing your career sometimes involves knowing when and how to say no to more work. After all, you don’t want to regularly work late into the evenings. So, for the sake of your mental health and wellbeing, it’s important to set healthy boundaries and learn how to say no to extra work in a diplomatic way.    If you are good at your job and have reached a certain...

If you love your job and want to advance your career, you’re no doubt working hard to rack up as many successes as you can. At the same time, change and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic may have left you feeling that you need to prove yourself and position your role as ‘indispensable’. But failing to manage this situation in the right way could leave you feeling overwhelmed,...

Disruption is second nature to IT teams. Even before COVID-19 hit, dealing with unforeseen change and innovating in response to it was part of their day-to-day – it was their bread and butter. After all, it’s change and disruption that often fuels the need for technological solutions. But the pandemic has brought a whole new meaning and momentum to the word ‘disruption’, even in the eyes...

Most employers understand the importance of a strong value proposition in attracting top permanent staff, but far fewer consider it to be a vital element when attracting contractors. Yet with organisations becoming more agile and utilising more contract and temporary staff than ever, a strong value proposition is exactly what’s required if you are to attract non-permanent employees when you...

COVID-19 has driven up demand for IT talent. As organisations plot their road ahead, IT hires are crucial to their plans. But in a competitive market, how can you stand out to find and secure top IT professionals?   Throughout the pandemic, demand for technology talent has evolved. First, we saw a need for people with cloud-based skills who could deploy systems such as AWS and Azure...

Neurodiverse employees bring significant benefits to an organisation. Yet figures show that a large percentage of adults with brain differences are being left out of the workforce. But by understanding and accommodating the needs of neurodiverse talent, employers can foster a more diverse, inclusive and successful organisation.   Equality, diversity and inclusion, or ED&I, have...

Employee monitoring can benefit both an organisation and its staff – provided it is implemented sensitively. With organisations increasingly monitoring their employees, and more workers now open to it, what steps do you need to take to ensure you get employee monitoring right?    From their keystrokes and browsing history to their brainwaves and emotions, organisations are...

2020 has been a long and tumultuous year. It’s also been a year of disruption like no other – with more still to come as employers begin to call staff back to the physical workplace after months spent working remotely. Returning to the workplace after COVID-19 can be a daunting process for employees, but it’s also one that can be eased with a thoughtful approach to ensure your people return...

After months of being told to work remotely, employers are starting to call staff back into the physical workplace. While some people welcome the return to the office, others are less excited at the prospect of leaving home to go back to their usual workplace. You may even be feeling anxious or stressed about returning to the workplace. Regardless of your perspective, there are some simple...