Kiwi employment market remains buoyant

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Kiwi employment market remains buoyant

The New Zealand employment market is in surprisingly good health with listings up 25% on a year ago, according to an analysis of 33,000 jobs listed on Trade Me Jobs in the three months from January to March.

Head of Trade Me Jobs Peter Ashby said the numbers exceeded expectations. “There have been some gloomy economic forecasts about and of course the devastating Christchurch earthquake in February, but outside Canterbury the employment market is holding strong. With the surge in listings, it’s clear that many employers are growing staff numbers, not simply filling vacant seats.”

There was good news for employees on the pay packet front as average salaries for jobs listed on the site headed up 4.2% on the same period a year ago. Wellington held onto its mantle as the city with the fattest pay packets with an average of $77,000, comfortably ahead of Auckland on $74,118.

Regional highlights

The vast majority of the regions had strong year-on-year listings growth, with Southland (up 44%) and Auckland (up 30%) showing strong growth. “Commodity prices – and dairy in particular – have been strong and it seems this is rippling through to the broader economy,” Mr Ashby said. “Listings in the main centres are all showing listings growth of at least 21% year on year.”

On the West Coast, the number of jobs was up by 16%, but the Pike River mining tragedy has meant a sharp reduction in the mining and engineering roles and a subsequent drop in average pay in the region, down 4% in the past year to $56,772.

In Christchurch, listings were up 21% on the same period in 2010, but Mr Ashby said that did not necessarily reflect the current reality. “Over the past three months things might look okay on paper, but since the earthquake struck we’ve seen the number of jobs listed drop by over 25%. Recruitment activity is still declining, so we won’t know the full impact for some time.”

Mr Ashby said it was obvious that demand for people in building-related trades would increase. “People with expertise and experience in construction, engineering and architecture plus associated trades are going to be highly sought after. We’d already seen this in the aftermath of the first earthquake back in September so there is set to be huge pressure on employers hiring in these sectors.”

IT sector still booming

Mr Ashby said there was an ongoing boom in the IT sector, with network & system engineers, and project managers driving much of that growth.

“We’ve seen the number of roles on offer in IT security quadruple as businesses look to shore up their site security and potentially cover pending changes around payment card industry standards. The demand for this expertise is reflected in the average pay on offer from potential employers going up $6000 in the past year to almost $110,000 per annum.”

Trades and services listings had also increased significantly, up 34% on the same period a year ago. Mr Ashby said the most in demand included boilermakers, welders and labourers. “They have enjoyed increases in the pay on offer compared to a year ago. We suspect demand is being driven by the rebuilding efforts in Christchurch and the shift of workers in these sectors to higher paying roles in Australia, where the employment market is steaming ahead.”

The number of roles listed in the primary sector had increased by 50%, as forestry listings almost tripled. Mr Ashby said: “The forestry sector seems to be going gangbusters, plus more candidates from this sector are now looking for jobs online.”

Looking ahead

Mr Ashby said that up until the events of February 22, there was increasing confidence that the increase in vacancies observed on Trade Me Jobs would eventually be reflected in a declining unemployment rate. “However, the Christchurch economy, higher petrol prices and a property market that’s going sideways continues to dent consumer confidence. The gloominess in the crystal ball is partially offset by the opportunities looming around the fast-approaching Rugby World Cup. The other unknown in all of this is the impact of the Government’s introduction of the 90-day trial period for all employers, and whether it helps with the recruitment efforts by SMEs in particular.”

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About Trade Me Jobs
Trade Me Jobs (www.trademe.co.nz/job) is Trade Me’s specialist job site. In March 2011, more than 891,381 Kiwis visited Trade Me Jobs (Source: Nielsen Online), making it New Zealand’s #1 job site. Details of pay by profession for full-time jobs listed between October and December 2010 are published in the Trade Me Jobs Salary Guide.

Employment survey results: January-March (Q1/2011)

1. Listings growth by job

Job / Change vs. Q4/2010 / Change vs. Q1/2010
Accounting / 8% / 17%
Agriculture, fishing & forestry / 16% / 52%
Banking, finance & insurance / 22% / 30%
Construction & architecture / 1% / 30%
Customer Service / 9% / 18%
Education / 0% / -20%
Engineering / 3% / 22%
Government & council / 8% / 4%
Healthcare / -1% / -10%
Hospitality & tourism / 3% / 23%
HR & Recruitment / 6% / 50%
IT / 2% / 75%
Legal / -21% / -12%
Manufacturing & operations / 4% / 24%
Marketing, media & comms / 11% / 20%
Office & administration / 13% / 29%
Retail / 10% / 18%
Sales / 7% / 20%
Science & technology / -9% / 19%
Trades & services / 4% / 34%
Transport & logistics / 5% / 54%
Overall / 4% / 25%

2. Average rates of pay by job (full-time jobs only)

/ Highest paid / Pay rate ($)

1 / IT project managers / 130,359
2 / IT sales & presales / 126,118
3 / IT architects / 122,732
4 / Doctors & specialists / 119,528
5 / Financial controllers / 109,520

/ Lowest paid / Pay rate ($)

1 / Kitchen staff / 31,406
2 / Waiting staff / 32,817
3 / Bar staff and baristas / 32,886
4 / Retail assistants / 34,052
5 / Receptionist / 34,093

3. Listings growth by region

Region / Change vs. Q4/2010 / Change vs. Q1/2010
Auckland / 4% / 30%
Bay Of Plenty / 16% / 30%
Canterbury / -3% / 20%
Gisborne / 15% / 105%
Hawke’s Bay / 11% / 23%
Manawatu / Wanganui / 4% / 6%
Marlborough / 4% / 26%
Nelson / Tasman / 2% / -10%
Northland / -11% / -7%
Otago / 6% / 20%
Southland / 17% / 44%
Taranaki / -3% / 21%
Waikato / 1% / 25%
Wellington / 11% / 26%
West Coast / -7% / 16%
National / 4% / 25%

4. Average rates of pay by region (full-time jobs only)

/ Highest paid / Pay rate ($)

1 / Wellington City / 77,000
2 / Auckland City / 74,118
3 / Central Hawkes Bay / 63,763
4 / Westland / 59,271
5 / Central Otago / 58,500
6 / North Shore / 58,334

/ Lowest paid / Pay rate ($)

1 / Tasman / 43,635
2 / Selwyn (Canterbury) / 45,214
3 / Masterton / 45,421
4 / Napier / 45,708
5 / Hastings / 46,072

NB: Segments with less than 50 jobs excluded.

ENDS

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