An initial team of 250 individuals with medical backgrounds was needed for the Contact Tracing Centre, working in two daily shifts, seven days a week. These individuals had to handle challenging calls from people unaware of their close contact with COVID-positive individuals.
As virus cases increased, the selection criteria evolved: registered nurses were reassigned, those sharing a home with front-line workers were stood down, and new criteria for suitability to work in NCCS were added to the recruitment process. The required number of staff varied daily.
An alliance was formed with Peter Crestani and the teams from Capital Recruitment and Frog to help the Ministry of Health recruit both on-site and remote contact tracers. The teams worked around the clock for 13 days to fill these roles, with 1,000 people needed for the remote national workforce in case of widespread community transmission.
All of this was enabled by a technology platform and automation tools that increased the speed of the project. This included:
- SEEK Integrated Talent Search (SEEK ITS) for sourcing candidates nationwide
- Automated registration and on-line referencing
- Video and telephone interviewing
- SMS one-to-many broadcasting, automated communications updates
- Microsoft Teams channel for internal communications and daily work-in-progress forums
- An online timesheet portal and induction system
- LiveChat for payroll and assignment queries
And the human touch was not lost. Technology is one thing with virtual workforce building, but the experts in the process are a critical element too. Here, a personalized approach was activated with those working in NCCS and two-way communication was encouraged.
All of this was enabled by a technology platform and automation tools that increased the speed of the project. This included:
- SEEK Integrated Talent Search (SEEK ITS) for sourcing candidates nationwide
- Automated registration and on-line referencing
- Video and telephone interviewing
- SMS one-to-many broadcasting, automated communications updates
- Microsoft Teams channel for internal communications and daily work-in-progress forums
- An online timesheet portal and induction system
- LiveChat for payroll and assignment queries
And the human touch was not lost. Technology is one thing with virtual workforce building, but the experts in the process are a critical element too. Here, a personalized approach was activated with those working in NCCS and two-way communication was encouraged.
Contact Tracing Project Results
70
People recruited
0%
Issues reported
350
People 'ready to go'
150
Additional people on standby
In amongst the global chaos, the approaching Coronavirus and its potentially devastating impact, the Ministry of Health implemented a National Close Contact Service (NCCS) in Wellington, to trace people who had connected with someone testing positive for the virus. This was a government priority.
This was a highly uncertain situation; hard data was not available; the country went into Alert Level 4 lockdown and ‘unprecedented’ became the word of the hour. The Wellington contact tracing project was set up under urgency by a highly committed team who tirelessly worked on ‘building the plane and building the runway’, with the population of New Zealand tuning in daily.
Copyright © 2025, people2people
people2people acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country, pays respect to their Elders past and present, and extends that respect to all Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples today.
people2people partners with CarbonInvoice to measure and mitigate any carbon emissions associated with the work we do.
Specialisations
Locations
Resources