Canstaff had an outstanding year in a very competitive environment which included the opening of our UK London office as part of a global expansion throughout 2019. After 20 years of recruitment Canstaff’s international presence now extends to New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Philippines, and Switzerland.
London is experiencing a construction boom across all trade and construction sectors and our London office has very quickly been able connect a network of clients and candidates on major projects. We specialise in trades and professional and technical staff (engineers, quantity surveyors, site managers, forepersons, etc) Our clients have been hiring skilled people across all trades, and the CVs we’ve been receiving from candidates cover an impressive range of career skills from apprentice level through to high level management experience. This is a pleasing confirmation that trades are alive and well, but how do we all keep pace with the demand?
After two decades of recruitment specialising in construction and engineering we are well positioned to meet client and candidate goals through global candidate sourcing. We able to do this through our international office network plus working with experienced immigration consultants to help skilled candidates successfully relocate, which also assists our clients who then have a stronger candidate selection. The construction boom that is happening in Sydney, Auckland and London results in Canstaff being able to successfully work with a large international pool of candidates who are looking for new opportunities.
The result for us is we can meet client demand for skilled tradespeople. Often the local supply for tradespeople in a country never meets the demand depending on industry trends. In New Zealand along with other countries labour shortages in this area can be represented by a cultural shift born from an internet generation leading to a Millennial mindset. Trades now days can often be forgotten in a world where school leavers have industries to consider that didn’t exist a generation ago like I.T. This actually makes trades even more valuable as a career option in a pure supply and demand model. Canstaff can fill gaps in the labour market to meet client demand through having a global talent pool. Our Australian office and London office have a stream of candidates who are looking for new opportunities and are willing to extend that opportunity to an overseas experience. We also take into account the number of Kiwis and Aussies who are ready to do the Big OE which works well for all parties involved in the recruitment process. We also have a strong interest from Canadians who are wanting to come Down Under which creates an additional option for local employers.
This instinct for people to migrate led to the Canstaff Job Passport which is simply a way of packaging recruitment with an appropriate visa.to match client and candidate in a new country. Canstaff are further leading this initiative with a roadshow in the UK in March 2020 with 6 events called Relocate Migrate which is currently being promoted with a webinar series called Canstaff Live. The webinar includes industry experts in recruitment, immigration, and relocation industries educating people on how to successfully migrate. Each episode is relative to a particular citizen who is considering moving to a particular country. For example, ‘New Zealand Calling’ is an episode that is directly talking to Brits who are considering a move to New Zealand. That episode saw a common theme in the live questions that were coming through where people wanted to know what visa would apply to them, and would their skills be in demand? If people come to us with trade, construction, and civil backgrounds we can most of the time help them and begin a process of relocation.
The Canstaff Live webinar series is a valuable introduction for people considering migration as you get see the people who will be handling your affairs, and you can ask questions in real time. This is the sort of credibility that is so important to people who are about to make very big life decision. It certainly helps people understand that there is something, and someone real at this end of a promising offer.