OneShift set for New Zealand market after less than two years running

Online recruitment business OneShift has launched in New Zealand today, after less than two years in operation in Australia.

OneShift was founded in mid-2012 by 23-year-old Gen George, and currently has around 260,000 job seekers and 26,000 Australian businesses using it.

George told SmartCompany this morning the move to New Zealand reflected requests from users of the site who were constantly asking for the service to be available there.

“There is so much connection between Australia and New Zealand, in that there are people travelling there to work, and they are travelling here to work…we are reacting to what our users want,” she says.

George says the New Zealand division will be operated from OneShift’s Sydney headquarters until it grows more.

She says the company’s relationship with investor Programmed Integrated Workforce has assisted the move to New Zealand, as Programmed has strong roots there. The staffing and facility management company invested $5 million into OneShift last year.

As the name suggests, the site began as a place for employers to advertise shift roles or short-term jobs for free, and for candidates to upload profiles for free. For an approximate $30 fee, employers can view all the potential candidates for a limited amount of time.

However, George says it has morphed into a greater array of positions, from casual to part-time and full-time, and she is happy to be flexible with the model to respond to user demand.

“In the last year we were up 2004% in hospitality ads…and December sales were up 400%,” she says.

The team now consists of around 40 staff.

George has her sights set on further international expansion, watching for potential gaps in the market in the UK, US and South East Asia, but she says she will solidify Australia and New Zealand operations first.

George set up the business following a working holiday in Europe, where she was frustrated at the lack of shift-work recruitment sites.