Talent trends for 2015: “Kiwis - come home!” say employers

NZ’s top 10 talent trends for 2015: “Kiwis - come home!” say employers

Increasing construction and residential property activity, employing the right skills to stay relevant in the rapidly changing world of digital marketing and the return of Kiwis from jobs overseas are among the trends that will impact New Zealand’s recruitment market in 2015, according to recruiting experts Hays.

“With New Zealand's economy growing at the fastest pace in 10 years and unemployment falling to 5.4 per cent there has been a significant increase in New Zealanders wanting to return home from overseas,” said Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.

“In 2015 we expect to see opportunities across all aspects of construction and the IT sector as employers invest in full-time hires.

“Digital marketing will also be a big area of jobs growth. As the technology and marketing worlds integrate, mobile optimisation will continue to be a significant priority for businesses. Mobile strategies will move beyond simply having a responsive site or mobile app, and focus on mobile-optimised content and social media marketing as well, which will fuel jobs growth for suitably qualified and experienced candidates.”

Hays’s top 10 talent trends for 2015:

1) New Zealand construction boom continues: Construction momentum is building across New Zealand due to unprecedented demand, and strong growth will continue in 2015. Improving business confidence has led to an increase in building approvals and forward workload, but more importantly there has been an increase in the value of work being carried out in both residential and non residential sectors. There is a shortage of candidates in New Zealand across all aspects of construction, and therefore attraction will be a huge priority for employers in 2015.

2) New Zealand returners: Returning Kiwis are being met with open arms by employers who want to fill jobs with experienced locals. Architecture, construction, engineering and property professionals are in highest demand, fuelled by Christchurch’s rebuild and Auckland and Wellington’s active residential market. With the upswing of work employers are recruiting both permanent and contract staff to deliver projects on time and on budget. They’re also growing their teams in order to generate more work.

3) Skilled trades & labour sought: Demand is very high for skilled professionals across all areas of trades & labour such as building services, carpentry, hammer hands, flooring and welding. Employers are competing for workers on both permanent and temporary contracts due to the ongoing earthquake strengthening work in Wellington and the building boom in the Auckland residential market. Large construction companies will continue to recruit from overseas to meet this demand.

4) Understanding what drives positive gender diversity change: In 2014 many businesses asked why gender diversity targets were not being met and why strategies were failing to achieve the desired results. In 2015 we therefore will see some employers (unfortunately not all) look at what they expect their employees to do when hiring and take steps to inform individuals of how their bias (either conscious or unconscious) manifests itself and impacts hiring decisions.

5) Increase in New Zealand-based contact centres: An increasing number of overseas organisations are targeting New Zealand to establish their contact centres. Large bulk recruitment drives will be seen in 2015, further depleting the pool of skilled and experienced customer service professionals in New Zealand. This will in turn force employers to look outside their preferred skill set and recruit candidates who can be trained into the role.

6) The evolution of digital marketing: Mobile optimisation has driven a lot of web redevelopment projects in the past year and we expect this to continue in 2015. As the industry matures it is separating out more into specific skills areas such as content, SEO/SEM, analytics and social media and therefore experts in these areas rather than generalists will be valued. Businesses are looking to optimise their mobile site for SEO so they rank well on Google’s ‘mobile-friendly’ criteria and will incorporate mobile into all areas of their digital marketing. We foresee skills shortages in this area as there is currently a lack of professionals who specialise in digital marketing in New Zealand.

7) Convergence of IT and marketing: The rapid evolution of digital marketing is transforming organisational structures and the gap between IT and marketing teams will narrow. As this trend develops Chief Marketing Officers with the management skills, operating experience, strategic mindset and vision will emerge to lead businesses.

8) Big data in the workplace: Experts agree that big data, alongside the right data mining technology, can provide unprecedented new insights and predictive patterns into employees (not just customers), leading to improved recruitment and retention strategies. In 2015 we will see HR experts interpret data relating to talent attraction, engagement, retention, performance and satisfaction, and use it to make strategic talent acquisition decisions.

9) Doing more with less: Hiring intentions are positive for 2015, yet most departments continue to be under pressure to control costs. Innovative new strategies to attract and retain talent will therefore be required since employers cannot increase salaries in line with the level of demand.

10) Growth of mobile Employee Value Proposition (EVP): Job seekers and employers alike will increase their use of mobile recruiting in 2015. According to a recent website poll 62 per cent of respondents in New Zealand said they do their job searching mostly by desktop but sometimes by mobile, while 36 per cent said they search mainly by mobile and sometimes by desktop. As a result, we’ll continue to see employers invest in their EVP by optimising their careers site and developing their mobile plan.

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

- Ends -

© Scoop Media