SEEK NZ Employment Report - March 2021

OVERVIEW OF MARCH 2021: STATE OF THE NATION:

• March saw the highest number of jobs ever advertised on seek.co.nz.
• Applications per job ad fell 7% month-on-month (m/m).
• SEEK job ads were up by 11% m/m.
• SEEK job ads were up by 55% in March 2021 when compared to March 2020 (y/y).
• Industries with the highest job ad growth m/m by volume were Information & Communication Technology (13%), Retail & Consumer Products (29%), and Trades & Services (13%).

STATE OF THE REGIONS:

• Every region saw an increase m/m and y/y.
• Auckland showing the most growth with a 13% rise from February 2021 to March 2021.

MORE JOBS ADS ON SEEK NZ IN MARCH THAN EVER BEFORE

The latest SEEK NZ Employment Report shows the biggest rise in m/m performance since June last year with an 11% national growth in jobs advertised in March 2021.

In addition to this strong m/m growth, new job ads on seek.co.nz also increased 55%, comparing March 2021 to March 2020.

Janet Faulding, General Manager, SEEK NZ comments: “March 2021 paints a very different picture to March 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak made its presence felt on the New Zealand labour market, with jobs ads dropping from mid-March. We are now a year on, and we’re thrilled to see the highest number of jobs ever advertised on seek.co.nz. Job ads are up 55% year-on-year, and 11% more than February 2021.

“The massive growth in job ads shows how far we’ve come as a nation. It’s great to see that after 12 months of slow, steady progress, Aotearoa has recovered and even surpassed pre-COVID levels.

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“Despite the week-long Level 3 Lockdown in Auckland at the start of March, we can’t see any long-term effects to the job market through the rest of the month. Although the lockdown impacted the Auckland region the most, we still saw significant growth in Auckland and the surrounding areas. In fact, four of the top seven regions were Auckland, Waikato, Northland and Bay of Plenty.

”One of the knock-on effects of high job ad numbers is that applications per job ad ratio fall. In February, applications per ad dropped 7% m/m. As well as the increase in job ads, there are likely many other reasons contributing to this decline such as: a reduced labour supply impacting the ability to fill roles and workers displaying a more cautious approach to career moves following a turbulent year.”

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS: CUSTOMER-FACING INDUSTRIES EXPERIENCING RESURGANCE

Public-facing sectors experienced the most m/m growth in March. Hospitality & Tourism showed one of the biggest increases from February 2021 with a 32% increase, while Retail & Consumer Products grew 29%.

Janet Faulding continues: ““It’s incredibly heartening to see the Hospitality and Tourism sector, as well as Retail and Consumer Products, have such a strong increase in new jobs ads posted to seek.co.nz this month.

“Nearly every industry experienced growth month-on-month.”

Some roles in Hospitality & Tourism and Retail & Consumer Products currently on the seek.co.nz website include:

• Hospitality & Tourism with roles for chefs/cooks, kitchen and sandwich hands, waiting staff, bar and beverage staff, housekeeping and management.
• Retail & Consumer Products with roles for department or assistant managers, area or multi-site managers, retail assistants, merchandisers and retail buying

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