Migrants answer the call of the Weta
Mention Weta Workshop and film work and it’s easy to entice newcomers to Wellington.
So says Greg Hunt, corporate services manager for Weta Workshop, a special effects company based in Miramar, producing physical effects for film and television.
Weta Workshop has just over 200 people on board, 20 percent of which are made up of overseas workers. Half of those are here on temporary work visas.
“We’ve got a policy to always hire New Zealanders if we can, but in this case we need offshore skills to supplement our New Zealand workforce,” says Greg.
“It’s a particularly busy time for us, our timeframe is short, so we’re having to go offshore to find the skills we need to work on the current big project for the next 6-12 months, simply because they’re not available in New Zealand at this time.”
Weta Workshop is having to bring in specialist skillsets, such as prosthetic technicians, animatronics engineers, sculptors, silicon prosthethic experts and skilled prop and model makers.
“We’ve got a whole host of nationalities here, predominantly from the UK and US, there’s a bunch of Australians, and others from Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Argentina, Japan and Canada,” says Greg.
Newcomers are usually sourced through Weta’s recruitment website, which attracts many expressions of interest, and through word of mouth it often shoulder taps potential workers.
Fortunately it’s not difficult to entice them here, says Greg – just mention the work and most jump at the chance.
“Once we have found them it’s not hard at all, we’ve even pulled people back who were here 10 years ago working on Lord of the Rings.
“It’s a win-win situation. For us the advantage of hiring overseas experts is that they’ve worked within the film making industry in their particular areas – and some of them are world leaders in what they do - so they can hit the ground running.
“There are many projects we could not take on if we were not able to utilise foreign experts.
“The other big benefit when bringing in such experience is that it’s a great help in training up our young New Zealanders.”
And often, Greg says, they tend to extend their stay, much to Weta Workshop’s delight.
“Often they come here as temporary workers, and wind up living and working here long-term, they love their jobs and they love Wellington, so it’s good for us.”
Greg talks of one migrant, Max Patte, a sculptor from the United Kingdom, who came out as a temporary worker and never went home.
“He’s now one of our team leaders, he’s part of what we call our core crew in charge of about a dozen in the sculpting team, so he’s here for the long haul.”
The way Weta Workshop helps to settle its offshore workers has also played a big part in retention.
“We normally give them accommodation for a few weeks till they find their feet, we take them into the bank, the post office, IRD and point them towards websites of interest, such as Wellingtonnz.com and Trademe.
“We’ve also started tapping into Settlement Support services through the Wellington City Council, it’s a very informative service that’s a great help to our migrants.”
Weta’s internal email system is another means of communication, particularly when it comes to newcomers looking for a flat, or organised social occasions.
With other big projects in the wind, Greg says Weta Workshop will continue to source workers from overseas in future.
To help speed up the immigration process, it has even applied for an Approval in Principle from the New Zealand Immigration Service.
“Hopefully we’ll be accepted and it’ll smooth the whole process for temporary foreign workers,” says Greg.
