25,000 More Jobs Advertised In 2011

20 December 2011

25,000 More Jobs Advertised In 2011

Job opportunities have grown by 10% over the last 12 months, with over 250,000 jobs advertised on New Zealand’s largest job source, www.seek.co.nz, since November 2010. The latest data from SEEK shows that while the levels of growth have fluctuated over the last year, 25,000 more jobs were advertised in the year to November than in the same period last year.

The best month to secure a new role was August where new job ads hit the high for the year, and predictably, the lowest number of new job ads placed was in December 2010 as businesses wound down in the lead up to the holiday season and hiring intentions slowed.

Applications for jobs peaked in March as New Year’s resolutions were put into action with a flurry of activity on SEEK. Janet Faulding, General Manager SEEK New Zealand, explains;

“We always see increased activity in terms of new job ads being posted and job seekers visiting the site during the first quarter of the year with many jobseekers viewing the New Year as the right time for a fresh start.”

Across the main centres, Canterbury emerged as the region with the strongest overall new job growth at 49%, or an increase of almost 900 roles over the last 12 months. Wellington followed with a 12% increase, which was slightly above the national average and almost 400 additional roles year-on-year. Auckland experienced slight growth of 2% but remains the centre with the most opportunity in New Zealand, with a total of 138,000 roles advertised over the last 12 months.

Ms Faulding says that 2011 trends are overall positive and puts the regional variation down to unique local conditions;

“In Christchurch the new job growth is attributed to roles necessary to support the recovery and rebuilding effort, whereas in Auckland we are seeing a slow and steady continuation of business recovery post-recession. Interestingly, Wellington is performing very well considering the reported cuts to the public sector this year and hiring intentions in the government industry dipping slightly in the run-up to the November election. Outside of government we’re noticing growth in a number of different areas, such as accounting and trades and services.”

The top three classifications by growth in the number of job ads were Accounting, growing by an impressive 430 job ads, Information and Communication Technology increasing by almost 400 and Trades and Services which grew by 250 job ads.

In other areas there was strong growth at peak times, for example Sports and Recreation, Retail and Hospitality and Tourism all experienced a hiring flurry in the period from July to September in preparation for the Rugby World Cup. Other industries, like Administration and Office Support and Sales maintained strong job ad numbers throughout the year, seemingly immune to the seasonal fluctuations experienced in other sectors.

“Local events such as the Canterbury earthquake, the country’s largest sporting event and the General Election all had a strong impact on labour market activity in 2011. However overall, the 10% increase in job ads marks 2011 as a successful year in employment. Firms looking to attract top talent in 2012 would be wise to advertise in the earlier months of the year when we tend to see increased activity on the site as jobseekers begin their search for a new role,” concludes Ms Faulding.

About SEEK

SEEK Limited is the leading online employment and training site in New Zealand. SEEK is a media company using the internet as its distribution channel. SEEK (NZ) Ltd was incorporated in September 1999. SEEK (NZ) Ltd manages seek.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest employment website and one of the best known Internet brands. Currently over 15,000 employment vacancies are advertised on seek.co.nz and the site notched up almost 2.3 million visits from jobseekers in September 2011(Nielsen Net Rankings, NZ Total Traffic, September 2011).

ENDS

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