Job market growing despite lower business confidence

Job market growing despite lower business confidence

Despite waning employment confidence according to Westpac: McDermott Miller, Trade Me Jobs continues to see healthy signs in the New Zealand employment market.

Head of Trade Me Jobs Peter Osborne said it was great to see Kiwis continuing to have so many opportunities and options in the job market. “While some gloss may be coming off the economy, the job market’s shown signs of healthy persistence this quarter. We saw more than 58,000 listings onsite between April and June, up more than 5 per cent on the second quarter of last year.

“Overall we’ve seen some nice pockets of growth across the country. This is heartening given the economic tailwinds of recent quarters have slowed to a breeze.”

People are also taking the opportunity to assess their job options, with the number of applicants per job up more than 7 per cent on a year ago. A slowing in job advertising with an increase in job applications means employers should find it easier to fill roles, while job hunters will find it more difficult to land a job.

Consistent with recent news surrounding the energy sector and dairy pay-outs Taranaki has continued a recent downward trend in listings, dipping more than 5 per cent, while Canterbury’s listing numbers fell for the first time in long time – down 3 per cent. Canterbury’s change is indicative of an area that has experienced enormous employment off the back of the rebuild and is now settling.

Mr Osborne said that given not every region was experiencing the same progress and the national market was “patchy”, job hunters may be more inclined to travel to find work. Since the biggest job market is Auckland more people moving to the ‘big smoke’ looking for work could exacerbate issues like housing affordability and supply.

Meanwhile Wellington turned its fortunes around a little, up almost 2 per cent on this time last year. The capital continues to be the place to be when it comes to wages, with the highest average pay in the country at $74,253. This is driven by higher paying banking, finance, technology and other skilled roles dominating the employment landscape

Auckland powers on

The Auckland region has seen a 10 per cent increase in job listings from this time last year and is the second highest area for average pay at $71,253. Mr Osborne said there were plenty of reports about the pressure on wages and salaries, given the price of property in the Super City.

Auckland City experienced fantastic 9 per cent growth but was beaten by the North Shore which had a 10 per cent increase in listings, while other areas around the city also experienced significant growth.

Brakes go on in Christchurch

“Christchurch’s 6% reduction in advertised jobs isn’t exactly a shock given the well-documented influx of workers and demand at the peak of the rebuild has plateaued,” Mr Osborne said. “It looks like it might be tougher for job seekers in the broader region too. Canterbury has seen a 25 per cent increase in applicants per job than this time last year.

“Perhaps we’re seeing a slight return to normal after the frenetic pace of change in the city. It’s interesting to see that although Christchurch is slowing, many of the districts around the Garden City like Mackenzie, Selwyn, Timaru and Waimakariri are experiencing double-digit growth.”

Regional round-up

For many regions there was excellent growth this quarter, but six of the 15 regions turned in year-on-year declines in listings. Gisborne had a bad quarter, with advertised roles down 21 per cent on a year ago.

Following in the footsteps of increased property price expectations and rents the Bay of Plenty was the best performer of all regions with 20 per cent growth in jobs, spurred by Tauranga which was up 29 per cent on last year.

Sector news

Applicants in the education, construction & architecture and retail sectors had the most choice in the job market with year-on-year job growth of 28 per cent, 16 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

IT was the most competitive sector with 45 per cent more applications per job landing than last year, and the market had tightened with a decline of listings of 4 per cent.

Mr Osborne said that with news of economic unrest in the EU still very fresh, there was uncertainty as to how that situation might impact the wider economy. “We need to maintain a watching brief to see if that impacts further on businesses hiring intentions and the job market. The New Zealand job market has shown some resilience to adverse global trends in recent years, and we’re hopeful that will again be the case.”

ENDS

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