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View All NewsNew Zealand – Employment market showing healthy signs
Despite the reportedly waning employment confidence, New Zealand-based job board Trade Me Jobs continues to see healthy signs in the country’s employment market, reports scoop.co.nz.
Peter Osborne, Head of Trade Me Jobs, commented: “While some gloss may be coming off the economy, the job market’s shown signs of healthy persistence this quarter. We saw more than 58,000 listings onsite between April and June, up more than 5% on the second quarter of last year.”
“Overall we’ve seen some nice pockets of growth across the country. This is heartening given the economic tailwinds of recent quarters have slowed to a breeze.”
People are also taking the opportunity to assess their job options, with the number of applicants per job up more than 7% on a year ago. A slowing in job advertising combined with an increase in job applications means employers should find it easier to fill roles, while job hunters will find it more difficult to land a job.
Not every region was experiencing the same progress and the national market, according to Mr Osborne, is “patchy”.
Taranaki, a region on the North Island, continued its recent downward trend in job adverts, dipping by more than 5% compared with a year ago. Canterbury, located on the South Island, reported a decline of 3%, the first decrease reported in the region for a long time.
Wellington experienced a slight change of fortune, reporting nearly 2% more job adverts compared with this time last year. The capital continues to be the place to be when it comes to wages, with the highest average pay in the country at NZD 74,253 (USD 49,790). This is driven by higher paying banking, finance, technology and other skilled roles dominating the employment landscape
The Auckland region achieved a 10% increase in job listings from this time last year and is the second highest area for average pay at NZD 71,253 (USD 47,779).
Auckland City experienced 9% growth but was beaten by the North Shore, which had a 10% increase in listings, while other areas around the city also experienced significant growth.
“Christchurch’s 6% reduction in advertised jobs isn’t exactly a shock given the well-documented influx of workers and demand at the peak of the rebuild has plateaued,” Mr Osborne said. “It looks like it might be tougher for job seekers in the broader region too. Canterbury has seen a 25% increase in applicants per job than this time last year.
“Perhaps we’re seeing a slight return to normal after the frenetic pace of change in the city. It’s interesting to see that although Christchurch is slowing, many of the districts around [Christchurch] are experiencing double-digit growth.”
Applicants in the education, construction & architecture and retail sectors had the most choice in the job market with year-on-year job growth of 28%, 16% and 16% respectively.
IT was the most competitive sector with 45% more applications per job landing than last year, and the market had tightened with a decline of listings of 4%.
Mr Osborne said that with news of economic unrest in the EU still very fresh, there was uncertainty as to how that situation might impact the wider economy. “We need to maintain a watching brief to see if that impacts further on businesses hiring intentions and the job market. The New Zealand job market has shown some resilience to adverse global trends in recent years, and we’re hopeful that will again be the case.”