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View All NewsNew Zealand – Job ads jumped 10% in 2014
There were more than 20,000 more jobs advertised in New Zealand during 2014, compared with 2013, equating to year-on-year growth of 10%; according to job board SEEK, reports business.scoop.co.nz.
Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand, commented: “2014 was a stellar year with media and analysts alike labelling our economy as a ‘rock-star economy’ and with over 275,000 jobs listed on seek.co.nz throughout the year, I’d have to agree. It’s fantastic to see increasing business confidence trickle down to the job market and subsequent strong growth in the number of jobs available to Kiwi candidates.”
From an industry perspective, Information and Communication Technology continued to outperform all other sectors in terms of sheer quantity of available jobs. The sector had almost twice as many advertised roles as Trades and Services, the sector with second highest level of job adverts, during 2014.
Unsurprisingly, Auckland still plays host to the lion’s share of the country’s jobs, followed by Wellington and Canterbury. However, four of the top five high performers by growth were outside of New Zealand’s main centres:
- Southland - 31.95%
- Marlborough - 28.62%
- Tasman - 16.64%
- Auckland - 13.16%
- Bay of Plenty - 12.05%
Looking specifically at Southland, blue-collar roles drove the significant growth with Construction vacancies more than doubling, up 116% from 2013. Manufacturing, Transport, and Logistics jobs and those in Trades and Services also experienced solid increases, up 80% and 73% respectively.
Applications for roles on SEEK increased 3.6% in 2014, signalling a positive year for the country’s candidates as opportunities grew at a faster rate than applications.
At an industry level, applications for roles in Real Estate and Property experienced the strongest growth, attracting 23% more applications in 2014 than last year. Increased interest in this sector is likely driven by the changing dynamic of the real estate markets in Canterbury and Auckland.
“The start of a new year is always a great time to think about your goals for the year ahead. I hope the solid performance of the 2014 job market provides encouragement to Kiwis considering a new opportunity in the year ahead and gives them the confidence to embrace change,” Ms Faulding concluded.