Job market finishes 2014 on a high note

MEDIA RELEASE
9 January 2015

Job market finishes 2014 on a high note

The New Zealand employment market closed a strong year with double-digit growth in the last quarter of 2014, according to an analysis of over 56,000 roles listed on Trade Me Jobs.

The number of jobs advertised onsite lifted almost 14% year-on-year for the October to December quarter, and each of the major population centres finished on a high: Auckland was up 20%, Canterbury up 10% and Wellington up almost 8%. Many other regions followed this positive trend with Bay of Plenty up 26%, Manawatu/Wanganui up 13% and Otago growing over 10%.

Head of Trade Me Jobs Peter Osborne said double-digit growth in advertised job numbers has become the new normal: “Looking back over the whole of 2014, it’s been a bumper year. Industrial sectors like automotive, construction, manufacturing, operations and the trades are all surging, and we’ve seen a lot more job opportunities created. With New Zealand being in good economic health, retail jobs were also up, and these factors have collectively helped to create a very buoyant job market.”

Auckland in particular - which makes up approximately 40% of the national jobs market - showed remarkable growth. “In the City of Sails, the theme is very much about going full steam ahead on major development and industry projects. We saw the number of jobs advertised in Auckland go up 20% quarter-on-quarter throughout 2014,” Mr Osborne said.

Auckland wasn’t alone in recording strong levels of year-on-year growth however, with Canterbury (+13.4%), Manawatu/Wanganui (+13.6%), Waikato (+13.9%), Marlborough (+25.4%) and Wellington (+14.6%) all faring well.

“The underlying trend is that 2014 has been a very solid year. Many of our advertisers have found it difficult to source talent and fill roles, and report that the job market has expanded considerably,” Mr Osborne said.

The national picture

Looking back over the last quarter, Canterbury is still largely driven by the rebuilding efforts and we see this reflected in transport and logistics roles up 27.2%, construction and architecture up 22.7%, and manufacturing and operations up an impressive 49.8% on the same period last year.

Other regions also show no signs of slowing down. “Bay Of Plenty saw significant growth in the number of jobs advertised from this time last year, up 26.3%. Otago and Manawatu/Wanganui also experienced solid increases of 10.6% and 12.8%,” Mr Osborne said.

In the sectors

Construction was a main driver of jobs growth due to infrastructure and housing projects. “The construction and architecture sector managed a 38% increase nationally, underpinned by a 67% increase in Auckland, and a 24% increase in Canterbury. In Auckland, we’ve seen two clients open industrial and construction recruitment branches in the city due to such high demand for workers,” he said.

Not to be outdone, transport and logistics grew 22.1% nationally, manufacturing and operations by 17.6%, Trades and services by 15.9%, and in the lead-up to Christmas we saw retail jobs grow 15.2% year-on-year.

Mr Osborne said the IT sector continued its “meteoric” long-term growth trend with the number of roles advertised up a further 11.6% year-on-year. Salaries in IT made up all five of the highest-paid roles, as employers continued to face a continued short supply of experienced IT staff. “It’s a good time to be schooled up in technology, as IT Architect salaries top the bunch at an average salary of $150,000, an increase of 11% on the previous year.”

Looking ahead

“With Auckland and Christchurch focused on infrastructure and housing requirements, we will likely see more growth in trade and services, construction and architecture, and transport and logistics in 2015.

“Other parts of the country also continue to show signs of a very strong job market and these are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. We expect to see the double-digit growth in job advertising to continue well into 2015.”

-ends-

More info: The full Trade Me Jobs employment survey results are set out below.

Trade Me Jobs employment survey results: October-December
1. Listings growth by job: Q4/2014 vs Q4/2013

2. Average rates of pay by job (full-time jobs only): Q4/2014

3. Listings growth by region for Q4/2014 vs Q4/2013

4. Average rates of pay by region (full-time jobs only): Q4/2014

About Trade Me Jobs
More New Zealanders have visited Trade Me Jobs (www.trademe.co.nz/jobs) than any other NZ job site in the 12 months to November 2014 according to Nielsen Online.

Full details of pay by profession for full-time jobs listed between January and June 2014 are in the Trade Me Jobs Salary Guide.

*Nielsen NetView: Monthly Unique Audience Report

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