Selective investment:Where will jobs be this financial year?

July 2nd 2013

Selective investment: Where will the jobs be this financial year?

Almost one in two (46 per cent) New Zealand employers expects permanent staff levels to increase this coming year, according to the 2013 Hays Salary Guide.

As stated in the Guide, 49 per cent expect permanent staff levels to stay the same in 2013-14. 46 per cent expect permanent staff levels to increase, while 5 per cent say they will decrease.

Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand, says these job hires will not be isolated to one or two key sectors.

“These findings show that many businesses in New Zealand are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead and are making strategic hires into roles that will offer long-term benefits to the organisation,” he says.

“While the Christchurch re-build continues to be a major driver for construction, insurance, call centre, IT and sales and marketing skills, it is not the only factor leading to a need to recruit.

“Demand for construction, engineering and architectural professionals is also being driven by residential construction work elsewhere and new commercial and seismic strengthening work in Auckland and Wellington.

“Outside of Christchurch IT professionals are needed to work on Ultra Fast Broadband, e-mobile developments and ERP projects.

“Auckland and Wellington are seeing increased numbers of permanent roles for accountancy and finance professionals.

“Skills shortages in procurement also continue across a number of sectors including manufacturing, insurance, IT and telecommunications.

“In the trades skills arena the energy sector has seen a spike in demand for qualified people to service an aging network as well as to be part of the Christchurch re-build. Demand for Distribution Line Mechanics is strong driven by project work and by a number of qualified workers moving to Australia for higher wages.

“Those candidates in demand are those with not only the required technical capability but also cultural fit.

“The keys to attracting these high potential candidates still lies with finding them, engaging with them and making sure that they see the right opportunities at the right time,” he said.

Reflecting on the past 12 months, 48 per cent of New Zealand employers had their permanent headcount on hold, 35 per cent increased permanent staff levels while 17 per cent decreased numbers.

While the majority of employers (76 per cent) will keep their use of temporary/contract staff the same, 18 per cent plan to make increases, while 6 per cent will decrease.

Last year, only 44 per cent of New Zealand employers saw the outlook for the economy as strengthening. In comparison, this year 61 per cent say they see a more positive outlook on the horizon.

The 2013 Hays Salary Guide is available at www.hays.net.nz/salary, by contacting your local Hays office or by downloading The Hays Salary Guide 2013 iPhone app from iTunes.

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays
Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. We are the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in Asia Pacific and the UK and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

Hays employs 7,800 staff operating from 245 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2012, Hays reported net fees of £734 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £128 million. Hays placed around 55,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 182,000 people into temporary assignments. 33% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific.

Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.

ENDS

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