HP centre staffing boosts Christchurch economy

Centre is contributing to region, development council head says

By Sarah Putt, Computerworld, Auckland | Wednesday, 28 July 2010
The Hewlett Packard Global Applications Centre is on track to add a $40 million GDP boost to the Canterbury region, after launching in Christchurch eleven months ago.

Canterbury Development Council (CDC) chief executive Bill Luff, who made the bullish statement about the centre’s impact on the local economy at its opening last August, says the centre is further ahead than he predicted. He expects the centre to meet his expectations when it reaches a mature staffing level of around 250.

“Clearly it’s attracting new business for HP and for Christchurch, and judging by the recruiting drive that HP has got on ... after one year they look firmly ahead of where I thought they would be,” he says.

The centre offers application development, modernisation and management services focussed on Java/J2EE, Microsoft .Net, testing and legacy systems, in addition to SAP and Oracle capabilities.

Read more at Computerworld.