After a redundancy and months of dispiriting job searching in Auckland, Natalia Sutherland moved to London in her 30s in search of employment. But is the job scene any better over there?
Most people moving from New Zealand to London hold conflicting imagined outcomes. There’s fairy tale narrative: I land a high-paying job at a corporate giant, take regular luxurious weekend trips to southern France, sipping wine in the sun.
The other scenario sees me failing to find work at all and writhing on London’s grey streets, dodging knife-wielding phone snatchers before racing home to a mouldy flat to search for the cheapest flight home.
My story falls somewhere in between.
For one, I live in the lovely area of Greenwich in London’s southeast in an affordable, new and warm apartment. The average rent in my area is £225-275 per week (NZ$507-620) which is on a par with an apartment rental in Auckland. But since my area is being gentrified, apartment rents usually include a carpark, gym access, a concierge and, if you’re lucky, expenses such as power and internet are all included. In general, London rent is more expensive than Auckland but with added benefits it can pan out cheaper and it all depends on where in London you live.
Of course, once rent is paid, sipping wine on the south coast of France isn’t in my budget without a permanent job, which I still don’t have.
One job interview in three months
I wasn’t under any illusion, when I moved to London towards the end of last year, that it wouldn’t be difficult – I arrived with my eyes wide open, partly because I’m in my 30s and far from naive about how expensive the UK is. And most expats warn you on arrival to not expect to get a job until you’ve lived in the UK for three to five months.
They were right. Three months in, I began temping in front-of-house, administration and communication roles, but before that, I faced multiple rejections from companies and landed only one interview, which was conducted by AI. If you were young and this was your first venture into the job market or you were on a tight visa timeframe, this market would be soul destroying.
I was prepared for the tough and competitive London job market, thanks to my experience of applying for work in New Zealand. The harsh personal feedback and ghosting I received from Kiwi companies made the sting of rejections from London firms feel like a cool balm. I’ve never been so happy to receive a rejection until I came to the UK. Having someone email or call to apologise that I wasn’t picked for a role made me feel like I’m a person again, one who is worth someone’s time.
The battle for work is the same here as anywhere, but the temping culture feels very different from the one I experienced in New Zealand. There’s no judgment for starting over on the lower rungs in the employment hierarchy. People here seem to understand that it’s a tough market — especially for a foreigner — and that sometimes, you just need to pay the bills.
Last year, when I wrote for 1News about leaving New Zealand to find work, people commented on social media that I could always flip burgers at McDonald’s or pick fruit, implying that such work is always available and maybe I considered myself above it. But that’s not the case. If you’ve held corporate roles before and have a degree, there seems to be an attitude in New Zealand that you applying for lower-paid jobs takes them away from people who really needed them.
Want a high salary? Head to Oz
If you’re lucky enough to get work in New Zealand you’ll most likely earn a decent wage, compared to the UK. The common understanding among ex-pats is that you don’t come to the UK to earn money, you go to Australia for that. We all know Australians are the ones who are paying for the drinks.
The average salary for communications jobs in London is around £28,000 (NZ$65,000), while the same type of role in New Zealand would earn you well over NZ$100,000. However, if you’re lucky to get a front-of-house role at a big company you can earn New Zealand’s medium wage.
The sting on the wallet is the expense of living in London, the commute isn’t cheap and can reach £9 ($20) a day. However, most people work from home a few days each week, so £18 ($40) would probably be the amount they’d pay in a week to travel an hour or more away from home on the other days. In Auckland, depending on oil prices, I would spend $100 a week on petrol and that’s before WOF, registration, insurance and any repairs I needed to make to my cheap car.
It’s tough everywhere
The world is uncertain at the moment. There’s trade wars, physical wars, the emergence of AI giving big corp excuses to reduce staff. Work-from-home culture is also killing front-of-house roles.
In the UK, unemployment is at 4.4% and employment levels are at 74.8% so people here are struggling to get work in the fields they are trained in.
Compared to New Zealand’s 67.4% employment rate and 5.1% unemployment rate, finding work is slightly easier here.
But the reality is that the job market is awful everywhere. If you want to feel depressed, Google unemployment rates in any western country – it’s sobering. It’s all over TikTok and Instagram feeds and it’s all over the news. Stories of how young graduates in the UK and US are applying for hundreds of jobs without landing a single interview.
The Atlantic ran a grim story about how western political and economic uncertainty has caused a stagnation in the global job market.
The world has changed and no one has the answers to how work will look in the future, which makes it particularly tough for those of us without a job.
‘What’s the vibe back home?’
That’s one of the main questions I’ve been asked by Kiwis since arriving in London. They’re hoping things have improved and that there’s something to come home to. But there’s little indication of when things will improve.
I’m hearing more and more of Kiwis in London heading to Australia, since there is “nothing for them at home”.
For me right now, London feels like the right place to be. The vibe here is positive despite the cost-of-living struggle. I love the creative and social scene and, despite the rough job market, I’m happy I made the move.
