I am a glass half full type of character but certainly the last 4 weeks have been the busiest I / we have been for a number of months. I appreciate times for SMB’s aren’t ideal and many in retail aren’t back to the same levels they were this time in 2019, but I believe we have good momentum leading into Xmas, New Year and 2021.

Why? There are a number of reasons / possibilities:

  • Govt. departments taking their funds from Budget 2020 and using them!
  • Govt. departments are taking their COVID-19 funds and using it which is flowing through the services, consulting and recruitment markets.
  • Organisations that cut during and post COVID lockdown realising they now need talent to moving forward.
  • Overseas vendors hiring in the local market due to them not being able to bring in their talent from their offshore teams
  • Organisations who paused during and post COVID lockdown having confidence that New Zealand is in a good-ish space and investing in initiatives / projects.
  • Due to organisations wanting different and innovative services than what they have now, they are calling upon and needing different resources and outcomes from their vendors / service providers. e.g. the rapid rise of RPA solutions
  • More and more Kiwi’s returning home with some moving their business back to New Zealand with them.
  • You’ve heard me bang on about the demand for Business Case Writers with BBC knowledge. Now we are seeing strong demand for Service Design Thinking expertise.
  • We are seeing some life in some NZ stocks which have been taking a beating recently which funnels money into listed stocks. Air New Zealand is springing back to life which is pleasing to see.
  • There certainly has been an increase in demand for people on Fixed Term Contracts but we have also seen organisations open to and loving solutions such as Teams-as-a-Service.

What have I missed?

I know we aren’t out of the woods by any means and that debt levels are at a record level. I note that Infometrics believe we are in for a Double Dip recession in 2021 BUT I remember reading that unemployment will be at 10% mid to late 2020 and I think today we sit at 5.3%.

So long live the current positivity in the current IT services market.