One In Four Unemployed Find Job Within Six Months

Monday 15 June

One In Four Unemployed Find Job Within Six Months

ONE IN FOUR New Zealanders who have been unemployed in the last six months have already found employment according to a recent SEEK survey.

SEEK Employment New Zealand general manager Annemarie Duff said the figures give some encouragement that work can still be found, even though today's unemployment rate has increased further to 5%.

“In a slowing economy the key may be in jobseekers realigning their expectations and being flexible in their approach to work,” said Ms Duff.

“Nearly 60 per cent of respondents said they would be prepared to consider less remuneration than their last (or existing) role.”

Jobseekers were also increasingly looking to improve their offering, with more than 55 per cent of respondents saying they were considering formal training or development.

This response is supported by a 20 per cent increase this year in interest in courses with SEEK Learning.

Many jobseekers are considering going to even further lengths to find employment.

“Nearly half of those respondents looking for work (45 per cent) said they’d consider moving house for their next job,” said MS Duff.

Other survey findings showed that while most New Zealanders are worried about their job in a slowing economy (73 per cent), it did not necessarily make them feel like changing jobs (76 per cent said less inclined or no difference). This may be due to jobseekers believing it will take more time to find a new job than it would have twelve months ago (87 per cent).

“While New Zealanders are reluctant to change jobs now, the twelve month view differs,” said Ms Duff.

“Nearly 60 per cent of respondents said they are considering changing occupation and company altogether and 26 per cent say they are considering leaving their company.”

Ms Duff said this suggested the next 12 months were critical for employers looking to retain talent.

‘One of the common themes we’ve noted in what employees are looking from their employer is honesty,” said Ms Duff.

Many who had lost work said they were not given any indication by their employer that their role was insecure. Those who are employed said that sudden redundancies drastically cut morale and increased stress within the workplace.

“Communication is vital in a slowing economy,” said Ms Duff. “Employers should be including staff in discussions regarding the financial stability of the business and utilise their team to make it more focussed and efficient.”

ENDS

About SEEK
SEEK Limited is the leading online employment and training site in Australia and New Zealand. SEEK is a media company using the Internet as its distribution channel. SEEK (NZ) Ltd manages seek.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest employment website and one of the best known Internet brands. At any one time, 10,000 employment vacancies are advertised on SEEK in New Zealand and up to 550,000 unique visitors are drawn to the website each month, equivalent to approximately 25% of the working population.

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