128,000 jobs since January

MEDIA RELEASE
5 July, 2013

128,000 jobs since January

Almost 128,000 jobs were advertised on seek.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest job site, since January. With the New Zealand economy continuing to gain momentum and the current atmosphere of increased business confidence, the country’s job market is expected to surge during the second half of 2013.

“It has been widely reported that business confidence is rising and we’re starting to see this reflected in the job market, with consistently high numbers of job opportunities on offer for those looking to change roles,” says SEEK New Zealand General Manager, Janet Faulding.

“The latest Westpac McDermott Miller NZ Employment Confidence Index highlighted an improvement in Kiwis’ perceptions of job opportunities for the third consecutive quarter. We expect this will further positively influence the employment market and result in increased job creation and application activity as we continue through 2013,” she adds.

The volume of jobs advertised on SEEK from January to June 2013 is consistent with the number of roles on the site during the same period in 2012, and up 5% from the same time in 2011. May was the busiest month for both hirers and candidates so far in 2013, with available roles growing 14% from April and applications up 5% over the same period.

Auckland came out as the region with the greatest number of opportunities in the country, followed by Wellington and then Canterbury, although there are distinct variances in the strongest performing industries in the northern and southern cities.

The top five industries in Auckland and Wellington show many commonalities, with IT, administration, accountancy and sales roles dominating job opportunities in each region. The only exceptions are the appearance of manufacturing roles in Auckland’s top five and of government roles in the Capital.

In contrast, the picture remains remarkably different in Canterbury with the job market clearly buoyed by the city’s rebuild, shown by the strongest performing industries in the region. Demand remains strong for those working in the building, construction and engineering sectors, while roles in IT and administration are also on the rise, reflecting the commitment to re-establishing operational infrastructure as the southern city’s businesses get back to work.

“It will come as little surprise that Canterbury continues to perform well in terms of job opportunities, however it is encouraging to also see the number of roles continue to grow in Auckland and Wellington as confidence rises in our main centres,” says Ms Faulding.

ENDS

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