SEEK has released its latest Employment Report for New Zealand, showcasing trends in job ad growth and advertised salaries. The data from the report highlights that the capital city, Wellington, is leading the way with job opportunities. Nationally, job ads have risen by 8.7 per cent, but Wellington has seen one of the biggest surges with a huge 9.7 per cent increase in the city alone. Advertised salaries have also spiked by 2.8 per cent compared to the 1.8 per cent national average since October 2017.
“Our team has been extremely busy speaking to Wellington based recruiters over the last few months,” said Janet Faulding, general manager for SEEK New Zealand. “They are on the hunt for talent, especially in government and accounting industries. Our relatively small capital is really holding the flag for job growth in New Zealand as a whole.”
In the capital, government and defence job advertisements soared by 45 per cent (compared to 29 per cent nationally), followed by 34 per cent in accounting (7 per cent nationally) and 26 per cent in legal (19 per cent nationally) since the same period last year.
The top three industries with the highest volume of job ad growth for New Zealand included ICT, trades & services and manufacturing, transport & logistics, all with over 10 per cent growth making up 29 per cent of job advertisements in the last three months.
Ben Pearson, general manager for Beyond Recruitment in Wellington, comments: “The lift of the public sector headcount cap earlier this year has released a latent demand for a range of skill types, and there is increased hiring occurring as a result.
“Our business has had a noticeably busier first half of the year due to the increased demand,” he continued. “Daily we see upward salary negotiation which is generally successful, so it’s not surprising to see this playing out as a trend in the SEEK Employment Report.”
Wellington advertised salaries have also risen by 2.8 per cent compared to Auckland and Canterbury which saw respective 2.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent spikes. The highest salary growth in the capital was in mining, resources & energy, with pay increasing by 17.8 per cent since this time last year and the average wage sitting at $111,838.
Salaries in construction and banking & financial services also increased by 14.5 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively over the past year, with average earnings totalling over $100k in both industries.
Craig Ebert, Senior Economist at BNZ said: “The strong annual growth in SEEK’s Wellington results looks to be more than just a rebound from disproportionate caution this time last year, when election uncertainty reigned in the capital.
“Of course, there is a common perception that centre-left governments, as we now have, tend to boost the size of the bureaucracy and civil service, which is strongly represented in Wellington. However, the strength in the SEEK data appears to be spread well beyond these particular areas.”
