MEDIA RELEASE
3 October 2014
Kiwi job market has a strong pulse
The New Zealand employment market continued its solid growth over the past quarter, continuing the growth trend of the
past year according to analysis of almost 60,000 roles advertised on Trade Me Jobs.
Head of Trade Me Jobs, Peter Osborne, said the number of job listings nationwide was up 16.4% on the same period last
year. Every region except Gisborne and Taranaki saw growth, and most areas experienced double-digit jumps throughout the
quarter.
“It’s been wonderful to see job ad numbers go from strength to strength for a whole year now, and most of New Zealand
has benefitted from the ongoing trend. It’s interesting to see the average number of applications has dipped, meaning
that all things being equal, it would have been slightly easier for people to find work over recent months.
“While that’s great news for job hunters, it does make it tougher for advertisers to find staff, especially in hard to
fill sectors like IT where application rates went down 20% on the previous quarter.”
The national picture
Mr Osborne said the three main centres were “full steam ahead” this quarter. “We’ve become used to Auckland maintaining
trajectory, and there’s no change on that front with job ads rising 18% year-on-year. The recent top form of both
Wellington, up 13%, and Canterbury, up 15%, hasn’t abated either.”
Nelson/Tasman (up 12.5%), Otago (up 30%), and Southland (up 32%) all achieved a solid increase in jobs advertised, but
the highest lift over the quarter was a stellar 54% increase in Marlborough.
In the sectors
The ongoing demand for skilled technology workers is “as strong as ever”, with more than 6,000 IT roles advertised on
Trade Me Jobs, but Mr Osborne said a structural skills shortage meant employers were often left unable to fill
vacancies.
“IT ads went up 20% year on year, but some of our advertisers say they simply can’t find the staff to fill them. While
it’s blue skies for qualified IT boffins negotiating a good package – for employers, finding quality staff is proving a
real challenge.”
The effects of a burgeoning job market were reflected in some administrative sectors. “A lift in jobs also means a lift
in processing applications and wrangling interviews, so unsurprisingly the demand for HR and recruitment staff is also
on the rise, up 25% on last year.”
Roles in construction and architecture (up 41%), property (up 40%), and agriculture, fishing and forestry (up 29%) made
the highest jump in jobs listed compared to this time last year.
Mr Osborne said the national average pay ticked up 3% year on year to $62,736. “We’ve seen pay levels hold firm for most
of the past year only to rise in the past quarter. This may be a reflection of upwards wage pressure caused by a growing
job market, and jobs being slightly harder to fill.”
Looking ahead
Mr Osborne said the lead-up to the holiday season will change the nature of jobs advertised. “The tail-end of the year
typically sees the number of temporary and seasonal jobs ramp up substantially, and the number of permanent roles begins
to ease off. This is a normal cycle.
“Anyone looking for work over the holidays should think about looking soon, because that’s when we see the vacancies
open up. Starting to look a week out from Christmas is too late.
“If you are looking for a permanent role, don’t stop just because the market slows down. It’s easy to think the job
search might be futile until the new year, but while there are fewer roles being advertised leading up to the holiday
season, there will still be opportunities.”
-ends-
More info:The full Trade Me Jobs employment survey results are set out below.
Trade Me Jobs employment survey results: July - September
1. Listings growth by job: Q3/2014
Job% change
Q3/2014 vs Q3/2013 Accounting - 9.3 Agriculture, fishing & forestry 28.7 Banking, finance & insurance - 7.8 Construction & architecture 41.5 Customer service 24.6 Education 20.3 Engineering 22.7 Government & council - 20.7 Healthcare - 1.0 Hospitality & tourism 17.8 HR & recruitment 24.7 IT 19.9 Legal - 18.5 Manufacturing & operations 26.0 Marketing, media & communications - 6.1 Office & administration 7.7 Property 40.1 Retail 19.4 Sales 9.1 Science & technology 19.5 Trades & services 21.3 Transport & logistics 17.0Overall16.4
2. Average rates of pay by job (full-time jobs only): Q3/2013
Highest paid Pay rate ($) 1IT architects139,2062IT project managers132,4203IT managers129,5304IT sales & pre-sales116,3315IT data warehousing & business intelligence115,529 Lowest paid Pay rate ($) 1Kitchen staff36,8922Caregivers37,0563Bar staff & baristas37,3584Reception & front desk38,2145Cleaners38,519
3. Listings growth by region for Q3/2013Region % change vs Q3/2012 Auckland 18.3 % Bay Of Plenty 13.0 % Canterbury 15.1 % Gisborne - 10.7% Hawke’s Bay 15.3 % Manawatu / Wanganui 16.7 % Marlborough 54.0 % Nelson / Tasman 29.5 % Northland 19.9 % Otago 30.0 % Southland 32.0 % Taranaki - 7.6% Waikato 12.5 % Wellington 12.9 % West Coast 17.3 % Grand Total 16.4 %
4. Average rates of pay by region (full-time jobs only): Q3/2013
Highest paid Pay rate ($) 1Wellington City77,7722Auckland City75,0203Waikato62,9864Whakatane60,9665New Plymouth59,026 Lowest paid Pay rate ($) 1Mackenzie (Canterbury)46,5872Hurunui (Canterbury)47,7303Porirua48,2784Upper Hutt48,5345Waitaki (Otago)48,817
NB: Segments with less than 50 jobs excluded.
About Trade Me Jobs
More New Zealanders have visited Trade Me Jobs (www.trademe.co.nz/jobs) than any other NZ job site over the past year (August 2013 to July 2014) according to Nielsen Online.
Full details of pay by profession for full-time jobs listed between January and June 2014 are in the Trade Me Jobs Salary Guide.
*Nielsen NetView: Monthly Unique Audience Report