Following on from our story yesterday about employers struggling to fill jobs, this bad news for businesses may be great news for those whose skills are in demand.

Engineers topped the list of the hardest jobs for employers to fill followed by skilled trades, and accounting and finance staff. Information technology staff, management and executives, sales representatives, secretaries and administration staff and doctors were also among the top 10.

ManpowerGroup's New Zealand general manager, Matt Love-Smith, said these hard to fill jobs showed the skill shortage was now widespread. Nearly half of employers surveyed said they had adopted "non-traditional people practices", such as adding additional training. Fairfax NZ