New Jobs Soar in Christchurch

New Jobs Soar in Christchurch

After a sluggish performance in recent months, Christchurch new job ads have increased significantly in the month of June.

The SEEK New Job Ad Index data released today shows new job ads have grown 11.4% in Christchurch over the last month, welcome news after a sharp 9.2% drop in May. Nationally, new job ad growth has been more subdued at 1.1% for June.

“Local Christchurch recruiters have been very active over the last month, hiring mainly in Trades and Services, IT and Accounting roles throughout the Canterbury area. This, coupled with a recruitment drive by the University of Canterbury has directly affected this growth and driven up the number of new job ads in the Garden City,” says Annemarie Duff, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand.

SEEK New Job Ad Index
The SEEK New Job Ad Index measures the flow of new jobs advertised on seek.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest job source, each month and Christchurch hit the highest numbers in June. Auckland’s results were far more conservative, with a stable 1.5% growth; while Wellington slowed after five consecutive months of growth.

“Interestingly, while Wellington experienced a small 0.6% decline in the number of new job ads for the month, their application rate for those job ads fell even further by 4.9%. This means that in the past month the number of applicants per job decreased and the job market was more stable with jobs and applications more aligned,” says Ms Duff.

SEEK Employment Index (SEI)
Also announced today are the SEEK Employment Index (SEI) results for June. The SEI is the ratio of new job ads placed on seek.co.nz during the month to the number of applications for those jobs. The seasonally adjusted SEI has decreased by 0.5% nationally last month, after a revised drop of 1% in May. On an annual basis, however, the new data shows that the index is still 31.8% higher than in June last year.

At a regional level, although a softening in the labour market is evident, SEI has illustrated differing patterns in the major centres. A fall in the index is observed in Auckland (-0.8%) primarily due to strong growth in labour supply. However, Wellington (4.4%) and particularly Christchurch (8.5%) with its surge in new job ads went against the national trend this month.

Job Applications

June’s top five most competitive occupations:

1. Call Centre/Customer Service – Call Centre Operator
2. I.T & T – Help Desk/Support
3. Retail & Consumer Products – Retail Sales Assistant
4. Administration – Reception
5. Accounting – Accounts Clerk/Administration

June’s top five most competitive occupations remain the same as May’s with one minor change – Call Centre and Customer Service roles move from the number two position to the most competitive occupation.

June’s top five most sought after employees:

1. Consulting & Corporate Strategy – Consultant
2. Construction – Surveying
3. Healthcare & Medical – Nursing and Midwives
4. Government & Defence – Government: Federal
5. Legal – Solicitor

Consultants are the most sought after employees for the month of June, with these roles receiving the least amount of applications per advertisement. Surveyors in the Construction industry are a surprise inclusion in the Top Five list not having featured here this year. Central Government employees, Solicitors, Nurses and Midwives unsurprisingly round out the Top Five, all having featured last month.

ENDS

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