SEEK January 2021 Employment Report

OVERVIEW OF JANUARY 2021:

STATE OF THE NATION:

• SEEK job ads are up by 1% month-on-month (m/m).
• SEEK job ads are down by 6% in January 2021 when compared to January 2020.
• Industries with the highest job ad growth m/m by volume are Trades & Services, Accounting, Information & Communication Technology, and Construction.

STATE OF THE REGIONS:

• Wellington and Canterbury have shown m/m job ad growth and Auckland’s job ads in January were equal to December.

NEW ZEALAND JOB ADS SHOW A HEALTHY START TO THE NEW YEAR

The first SEEK NZ Employment Report of 2021 shows a positive m/m performance with 1% national growth in jobs advertised in January 2021 compared to December 2020.

Job ad volumes were 6% lower in January 2021 than January 2020.

Janet Faulding, General Manager, SEEK NZ comments: “We have seen the new year begin strongly with job ad listings continuing to bounce back. This follows the announcement of the unemployment rate sitting lower than forecasted, suggesting the strong economic recovery in the second half of 2020 is carrying through.

“Comparing January 2021 with January 2020, job ad volumes are 6% lower – the lowest year-on-year difference seen since the start of the pandemic.

“January is traditionally a strong month for recruitment as businesses prepare to hire. The Construction and Trades & Services industries continue to show a demand for workers. This is likely due to the on-going demand for new homes, the increased level of renovations to existing homes and those landlords looking to upgrade their rental properties to suit new codes.”

STATE OF THE REGIONS: MAJOR REGIONS AT HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE PANDEMIC BEGAN

Although there are mixed m/m results across the regions, when reporting monthly and looking at the regions the percentages do tend to fluctuate. It is important to look at long term trends which all show positive growth across the regions. For example, although Waikato is showing a 1% drop from December 2020 to January 2021, looking at the last three months the trend shows an increase of 9% in the area.

Janet Faulding continues: “The major metro areas of Wellington and Canterbury both saw month-on-month growth in January of 6% and 4% respectively, whereas Auckland’s job ad volumes were equal to December.

“December 2020 was a particularly strong month for hiring at the end of an uncertain year, especially for Auckland. Many businesses closed for a longer period this summer and schools returned later into January. Hiring in Auckland did not pick up again until midway through January which resulted in a substantial increase in job opportunities in the second half of the month.

“If we compare where we were this time last year, we can see that we are continuing to close the gap with the smallest difference year-on-year since the pandemic began.”

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS

The industries which contributed this highest growth in terms of job ad numbers in January 2021 were Trades & Services, Accounting, Information & Communication Technology, and Construction.

The roles available within these industries right now on seek.co.nz are:

• Trades & Services with roles for labourers, automotive trades, building trades, technicians, carpentry & cabinet making, electricians and hair & beauty services.
• Accounting includes roles in business services & corporate advisory, financial accounting & reporting, and accounts officers / clerks.
• Information & Communication Technology with roles for developers / programmers, business / systems analysts, programme & project management, software engineering and help desk & IT support being in demand.

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