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Claims an inflow of immigrants is offsetting our brain drain and our recruitment agencies are inundated with off-shore IT experts seeking safe harbour, low pay and the Kiwi lifestyle are fabrications.

The bulk of immigrants this past year have been un-skilled and rumours of an influx of technology talent evacuating from Europe, the US, the Middle East and Australia to our remote greener pastures have so far failed to translate into reality.

Margaret Kennedy, chairperson of the Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association (ITCRA) says despite a 25 per cent increase in inquiries to local recruitment agencies few have followed through. Without attractive job prospects and decent wages she suggests most will simply stay where they are and learn to live with growing world troubles.

The market for technology and telecommunications personnel is undergoing a major meltdown. While there is still strong demand for talented specialists many local companies have put spending and recruitment on hold while they weigh up what is happening in the wider world.

A general lack of business confidence has been underlined by the September 11 terrorist attacks raising deeper concerns about future exports and earnings. Locally a growing number of companies are struggling, restructuring, retrenching or shutting down, including the branch offices of a number of US operations, that face closure despite being profitable.

Several employment agencies have described the New Zealand slowdown, which began mid-year, as the worst for nearly a decade. The situation mirrors that of the Australia, the US and the UK. Across the Tasman several IT recruiters have shut down and online IT job ads declined 16.5 per cent in September and over the past 12 months fell a massive 67.2per cent, according to Sydney recruitment firm Olivier Group.

Y2K efforts resulted in infrastructure becoming more reliable and stable requiring less support and many IT contractors, once in desperate demand, are back in the job queue.

The global techwreck has also taken its toll on dotcom operations and major hardware, software, networking and telecommunications firms with hundreds of thousands of people laid off this year.

Many larger organisations continue to hire staff for existing or essential projects but estimates for local recruitment market recovery range from January for a February start to mid-2002 or much later.

A growing number of people with generalist IT knowledge are seeking employment but there remains a dire shortage of those with specialised e-commerce, security, network architecture, SAP, C++ and Java programming skills.

However salaries have levelled in the past six months with a greater willingness for workers to lower their expectations as long as employers have the latest technology, offer training, an inspiring culture and a good team environment.

Wellington-based salary survey company Cubiks claims IT sector salaries for senior programmers, computer operations managers, network managers or consultants and systems analysts range from $60,000-$66,000. For an IS manager, project manager, national technical manager or development manager its an average of $70-$85,000. Recruitment industry sources however suggest that’s conservative and highly skilled people, depending on job description, could command an additional $10,000 to $100,000.

The latest population figures from Statistics New Zealand are being used to suggest the brain drain is in reverse. However if you subtract the immigrants we’re actually shrinking and the bulk of those we’ve welcomed so far (45,011 in the year to June) are unskilled. This year we’re aiming at 50,000 and finally shifting the focus from family reunification and humanitarian reasons to skills-based entry.

Although long-term Kiwis leavers are significantly down, more than 170,000 emigrated in the 12 months to July including teachers, accountants, lawyers, business professionals, nurses, senior government administrators, scientists and computer professionals. The outflow is being blamed on higher income taxes, youth escaping repayment of university fees, the re-regulation of the labour market and the growing amount of red tape involved in trying to run businesses and employ people.

The Employment Contracts Act is making it harder to hire and fire. One IT company claims it cost $61,000 to replace a worker who proved unsatisfactory including training, downtime and complying with the Act.

In the knowledge economy people are our greatest asset. While’s there’s no such thing as a job for life any more both employers and employees can help make the work experience beneficial to both parties by adhering to ethical behaviour.

For employers, take time to read, understand and comply with employment related red tape no matter how frustrating and time-wasting it may seem. Keep your best people in the loop, get them involved in decision-making, encourage loyalty.

For those in the workforce this is no time to rest on your laurels. You can’t depend on employers to keep your skills at the leading edge. Invest in yourself and keep your CV relevant to the market. Ongoing training, hands-on experience with state-of-the art technology, good communications skills, business knowledge, the right attitude, enthusiasm and a willingness to work as part of a team are your greatest assets.

The brain drain is a state of mind.