Kiwi job market continued solid growth

Posted by Andrew on October 9, 2014

The latest Trade Me figures show that the number of job listings (vacancies) was up 16.4% compared to October last year. Every region in NZ has seen an increase except for Gisborne and Taranaki. Auckland was up 18%, Wellington 13% and Canterbury up 15%.

As Trade Me quite correctly note - while this is great news for job hunters, it hints at how tough it is for advertisers (businesses looking for staff) to find the right staff. They give an example of the IT sector with 6,000 jobs currently advertised, where application rates were down 20% compared to the previous quarter. 

Sectors that are in demand were noted:

• IT up 20%
• HR and Recruitment staff up 25%
• Construction and Architecture up 41%
• Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry up 29%

The national average pay reported by Trade Me rose 3% to $62,736, likely driven by upwards wage pressure and the fact that jobs are harder to fill.

Looking ahead to the end of the year, Superior Personnel would expect to see an increase in temporary staff demand as employers ramp up for Christmas demand. The flip side of this is that permanent roles will ease off especially in December.

For people looking for roles, once you have satisfied the requirements of the role such as skills or relevant qualifications, our experience is that the biggest thing employers are looking for is ATTITUDE, with respect to reliability and work ethic. We can't emphasise this enough - turning up when you say you will is huge.