This blog post should have been written ages ago but I’ve been so busy it was absolutely impossible. I’ve been learning a lot about start-up businesses in New Zealand lately and have met some real bright minds and great entrepreneurs.
Piero told me about crackerjacks so I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to tell you all about it too.
Because I’m too lazy busy to write something out of it, I’ll impress you all with my copy/paste talent and present you the (almost complete) media release:
New Zealand’s contracting market is set to be cracked open with a new website – ‘Crackerjacks’ – which takes the hassles out of contract recruitment.
Frustrated by the downsides of hiring contractors himself, experienced business manager Tony Wai has created ‘Crackerjacks’ to make it easier for Kiwis to embrace the contracting trend.
The website provides a marketplace where contractors and businesses can meet: Employers seek talent from registered ‘Crackerjacks’ who in turn, receive the tools they need to manage and get great contracts.
Wai estimates fee revenue earned by agencies from contracting in New Zealand is about $350 million annually.
“In this tight labour market, contracting is a good option for businesses to get the skills they need. And with New Zealanders crying out for more leave and greater flexibility of working hours, it’s also a great way to achieve the much vaunted work life balance.”
Wai came up with the Crackerjacks idea while working in senior finance roles in some of NZ’s largest companies.
“It could take days to find the right person and we were always up against the gun with project deadlines. Then it was a big let down if they didn’t fit.”
Crackerjacks helps eliminate the guesswork from hiring contractors with a calendar and forward booking system. All contractors are reference checked and a quality performance rating system gives businesses confidence in a quality candidate pool. This also helps contractors build their profile and reputation for great work.
With no ongoing fees, businesses pay less to find contractors through Crackerjacks and for the contractors themselves, there’s no middleman clipping the ticket as they work.
Wai says contracting is becoming increasingly attractive for businesses as it reduces their administrative burden in the area of payroll and removes constraints for employment legislation such as the Holidays Act 2003 and Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987.
Crackerjacks is approaching the country’s leading companies to list contracts on their site and is inviting prospective and current contractors to register, get reference checked and get in line for work.
The site is expected to be popular for contractors in the sales and marketing, finance, IT and HR fields initially. Next steps include making room for specialisation in the health and education sectors and launching Crackerjacks across the Tasman next year.
to learn more about crackerjacks click here.
