Rocketwerkz – an enlightened employer

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 pm, February 20th, 2017 - 8 comments
Categories: jobs, quality of life - Tags: , ,

We sometimes give employers a bit of a hard time on this blog, so it’s nice to occasionally celebrate a good one. One that on this occasion has even hit the international press:

New Zealand startup offers unlimited holiday and profit share to attract workers

Gaming company Rocketwerkz claims staff focus better when not stressed by issues that need attention outside the workplace

A gaming company in New Zealand is luring employees from around the world by offering unlimited paid annual leave, a share in the company’s profits and no set work hours.

Dean Hall became famous in international gaming circles for being the lead designer on the popular zombie apocalypse video game DayZ.

After searching the world for a location for his new gaming studio, Rocketwerkz, New Zealander Hall settled on the small university town of Dunedin on the south island’s east coast, where property is cheap and creative start-ups have become a core part of the city’s identity.

Rocketwerkz’s flexible work culture – which includes unlimited leave, a share in the company’s profits and Hall’s salary capped at 10% above his highest-paid employee – is now drawing talent from around the globe, with Hall receiving 300 Facebook messages of inquiry since a local newspaper wrote about his unorthodox office last week. …

For recent NZ headlines see:
Meet the NZ CEO who caps his salary and gives staff unlimited annual leave
Rocketwerkz CEO’s message puts rocket up NZ employers

There’s a web site showcasing Dunedin’s IT companies here. Companies like this are the reason that Dunedin has been singled out in Labour’s regional development strategy as a Center Of Digital Excellence.

(I have no affiliation with / links to Rocketwerkz, I’m just a fan of their philosophy.)

8 comments on “Rocketwerkz – an enlightened employer ”

  1. red-blooded 1

    I guess Little and the Labour team will have known that this sort of company is already in Dunedin and that’s part of their thinking in developing the city as a centre for digital excellence. This is very refreshing stuff – I really hope we get a chance to see the city moving more in this direction. (And no, that doesn’t mean giving up on industries that offer secure jobs to those with fewer specialist skills – it doesn’t have to be either/or.)

  2. Antoine 2

    I just would be interested to hear a perspective from one of his staff. It may not be as idyllic as it sounds…

    A.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1

      No you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t even take the first step to ask to meet them. The bland meaningless comments you author have only one purpose; this can be seen on every topic from Climatology to the gender pay gap.

      When someone bothers to rub your face in the facts you simply author another bland platitude.

      My question is: do you seriously believe that anyone is fooled by your tiresome little games?

      • Antoine 2.1.1

        No, I’m just musing, in part driven by media describing that although Google makes itself out to be a wonderful employer, in fact it can be an absolute pain to work there. Can find a link if anyone’s interested. Perhaps this Rocketworkz place might be a bit similar…

        • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1.1.1

          There’s a pattern to your anodyne “musing”. A child could spot it.

          Is your real issue that no-one is hiring bland procrastinators?

  3. saveNZ 3

    Personally would prefer the old fashioned way of giving local people jobs and NZ gaming students opportunities so they don’t have to leave their country to work or be on WINZ – but I guess (like the government) the employers like to get the best by throwing in a free passport with every job offer below the normal level of wages in that industry and probably getting generous government grants.

    We already had Gameloft decide to ‘relocate’ (apparently to Nigeria) after taking millions of money from tax payers via Callaghan Innovation and importing in 70% of their workforce to dump them later on – on the NZ welfare system.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/295245/bid-to-'claw-back'-gameloft-grant

    Saying that, good on Rocketwerkz for at least realising that slave hours do not encourage creativity and success…. and at least the founder has NZ ties…

    And a good way to market yourself….

  4. saveNZ 4

    It seems like the Natz strategy to try to compete against Winston Peters in particular and Labour is to suddenly start funding all sorts of projects in the ‘regions’…

    Could this be a pre election strategy so they can rattle off a list of stats in election debates of what they have been funding… (the trick is to look at the dates, is investment in the regions just before the election?).

  5. Antoine 5

    And see this – http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/70139588/Immigration-stoush-could-mean-game-over-for-20-million-Dunedin-studio?cid=dlvr.it – Rocketwerkz getting in a bit of strife for paying full time staff a salary of $35K

    A.

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