NZ service-based jobs on the rise

EMPLOYMENT DATA REPORT

New Zealand service-based jobs on the rise with the candidates in the driving seat

31 July 2018

• Greatest job ad growth coming from service-based sectors

• Large employing service sectors showing double digit year-on-year growth

• North Island dominating the South Island in salary growth by more than 5.5x over the past 12 months

The latest SEEK Employment Report shows there were 8.2 per cent more new jobs advertised in the three months from April – June 2018 compared to the same period 12 months earlier.

Janet Faulding, General Manager for SEEK noted that it was encouraging to see the large employing sectors are showing strong year-on-year (YoY) growth which is fuelled by service-based roles. “New Zealand’s largest employing sectors of Information and Communication Technology, Administration & Office Support, Trades and Services and Hospitality & Tourism are all showing solid growth year-on-year. The breadth of roles these sectors cover shows there is opportunity for a career change, no matter what skill set you have. Roles range from Aged Care assistants to hotel guest services, from security services to web developer.”

“The growth is being driven by an increase in population and ageing of the population too. The service orientated roles that require the human touch are the jobs that are going to be less impacted by automation and technology. The five industries below make up 39 percent of the total job opportunities available in the last three months on SEEK.co.nz”

Greatest opportunities by volume for candidates exist across (YoY):

1. Information and Communications Technology – up 11 per cent

2. Trades & Services – up 14 per cent

3. Administration & Office Support – up 5 per cent

4. Accounting – up 8 per cent

5. Retail & Consumer Products – up 12 per cent

Faulding commented “Despite recent reports about the negative impact of online retail it is positive to see so many career opportunities being advertised in the retail and consumer products space from retail buyers and merchandisers to shop assistants and store management.”

The trend for service-based roles was supported by SEEK research looking at the top 20 roles that are most difficult to fill because of low application numbers, Faulding continues “Interestingly, 19 out of the top 20 hardest to fill roles are coming from these service related sectors with a massive 90 per cent of those top 20 coming from the professions of Legal and Healthcare & Medical.”

“The job market across New Zealand is looking pretty healthy with the unemployment rate hitting a 9-year low of just 4.4 per cent. Salaries have also grown in the past 12 months across most sectors. The national average advertised annual salary on SEEK.co.nz was $77,184, up 1.9% per cent compared to last year.”

Table 1. Top 5 hard to fill roles on SEEK.co.nz - June 2018 (Top 20 can be found in notes section)

Most regions are recording a rise in average advertised salary in trend terms, Faulding continues “What we have seen in the past 12 months is the North Island regions have recorded a 2.2 per cent growth more than 5.5 times than that of the South Island. The South Island regions have recorded a modest 0.4 per cent growth.

“Only Northland and Otago are currently reporting a modest decline in average advertised salaries in trend terms.”

Table 2. Average salaries by region

MAJOR REGIONS

New Zealand job ads are up year on year by 8.2 per cent, underneath the headline figures, SEEK data shows it is service roles that are in greatest demand driven by Wellington. Wellington was the only one of our major regions to experience job ad growth, the capital also saw a growth in salaries by 2.7 per cent standing at $84,466.

Table 3. Wellington jobs ads and salary YoY

Canterbury saw a small step back in total job ads recording a 1.4% decline but did show a growth in average salary now at $74,948 up 1.3 per cent in the past 12 months.

Table 4. Canterbury jobs ads and salary YoY

Auckland took a slightly bigger step back with 2.8% fewer job ads than this time last year but also saw an increase in salaries $78,415 up 2.3%.

Table 5. Auckland jobs ads and salary YoY

Download Employment Data Report

MEDIA NOTE: When reporting SEEK data, you must attribute SEEK as the source.

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Top 20 hard to fill roles on SEEK.co.nz - June 2018

About the SEEK Employment Report

The SEEK Employment Report provides a comprehensive overview of the NZ Employment Marketplace. The report includes the SEEK New Job Ad Index, which measures only new job ads posted within the reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for labour across all classifications.

SEEK’s total job ad volume (not disclosed in this report) includes duplicated job advertisements and refreshed job ads. As a result, the SEEK New Job Ad Index does not always match the movement in SEEK’s total job ad volume.

Disclaimer: The Data should be viewed and regarded as standalone information and should not be aggregated with any other information whether such information has been previously provided by SEEK Limited, ("SEEK"). The Data is given in summary form and whilst care has been taken in its preparation, SEEK makes no representations whatsoever about its completeness or accuracy. SEEK expressly bears no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed by you on the Data, or from the use of the Data by you. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.

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