Living and working overseas is the dream for many young people just starting their careers. 

One city is targeting a whole demographic.

Economic development agency, WellingtonNZ, is actively campaigning for U.S. workers to fill open jobs and move to Wellington. 

The company is aiming to recruit Americans to relocate to New Zealand’s capital city with ‘The Escape to Wellington’ campaign, which is costing ratepayers NZ$470,000 through WellingtonNZ. 

Featuring a giant Esc(ape) computer key installation in Manhattan in the heart of New York City, the campaign cleverly aims to tempt those looking for a better ‘life-work’ balance and quality of life to consider moving to New Zealand’s capital. 

Passers-by can press the custom-built (Escape) key to be matched with live job vacancies in Wellington and see imagery of various lifestyle benefits working in the region can offer. 

CEO of WellingtonNZ, John Allen, stated that New York was chosen as the site of the activation due to North America being a key talent market for Wellington. 

“It has a large pool of skilled tech, science, creative workers and beyond and is also a key visitor market for our city,” Allen said. 

According to Allen, the campaign “zeroes in on the changing priorities of today’s workforce” and aims to “fulfil their career and lifestyle ambitions in equal measure”,  to help foreigners find good jobs before moving before learning more about the immigration process

WellingtonNZ hopes to attract workers who are early in their careers to address talent shortages in technology, health care, construction, film and other industries.

The company’s website itself features a job board listing more than 3,000 open roles, with some jobs paying over NZ$200,000, as well as testimonials from expats who’ve made Wellington their new home.