Skilled job hunters are in the driver’s seat to negotiate better pay and perks say recruiters, as the Government confirms tight border controls won’t be relaxed till the first part of 2022 at the earliest.
Shortages of people with IT, management, accountancy, and legal expertise and for internal communications and change management roles are rife, they say, with pay rates taking a sharp upward turn. Other perks like a car park and an entry bonus are on the table where the pay can’t go up any further.
An associate director of international recruitment agency Robert Walters says it is “hot, hot, hot’ in her recruitment zone.
Robert Walters associate Sindy Ward is flat tack having offered 12 high paying jobs in the past week but only landing six candidates because the others had accepted counter offers before her team could secure them for their clients.
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“Recruitment shot up in February when employers realised the country was bouncing back, and it hasn’t slowed down,” Ward said.
She says the job market is like the property market – heated and very competitive.
A survey by her company found that over 80 per cent of recruits expected work place and time flexibility and hybrid working set-ups.
“Companies are having to adjust and adopt a retention strategy to keep good staff and some are offering sign-on bonuses to get a new employee,” she said.
“This has been great for millennials in particular as cash up front could mean the extra part of a deposit needed to buy a house.”
Ward recently placed Melissa Christou as national field sales manager for a company that sells beauty products.
Christou is a 48-year-old single mother with two teenage children. She needed flexibility and a good salary. Initially she thought she would need to compromise to secure the role, but the opposite happened.
Christou got a pay rise, a company vehicle, incentives and flexibility.
“I feel great and absolutely boosted, the pay rise was needed, and I now feel valued,” Christou said.
“Covid-19 lock down proved we can work remotely, and I was not prepared to sit in traffic for two hours and be away from my kids unnecessarily knowing I didn’t need to. I now start early when I want to and go to the office as well.”
Christou says the entire recruitment process was perfect and this was “refreshing”.
Unlike previous experiences, this time she had “several offers on the table”.
“The transparency from all involved and getting good insights into the company and the build-up of trust from the outset was awesome. I was able to take my time.”
She says now is the time people should be looking at opportunities to move jobs. She had been at her previous job for three and a half years.
In its 2021/22 Australia and New Zealand salary guide Hays Recruitment state that job candidates are in the driving seat.
Almost three-quarters of more than 3000 employers Hays surveyed said permanent staffing levels were now either above or equal to their pre Covid-19 point. Almost half intended to increase their permanent headcount in the year ahead and 67 per cent said they would increase salaries.
“Employers are aware of a talent shortage and in the next 12 months, 64 per cent of employers [believe] skills shortages would impact the effective operation of their organisation or department, either in a significant or minor way.”
“More skilled professionals will receive a pay rise because with skills in demand, employers are re-examining pay.”
Tertiary Education Commission chief executive Tim Fowler confirmed there is an increased demand for data specialists, architects, communications and copywriters due to businesses needing to go online. There is also demand in food and fibre and construction.
He says more mature workers are signing up for apprenticeships that give them new skills. The commission has seen a significant increase in apprenticeships in mature workers, in both the 25-39 and 40 plus age groups.
Both SEEK and Trade me Jobs back up the anecdotes found by recruiter client surveys.
Seek’s July job listings were “record-breaking”. This was the fifth consecutive month that the site had an increase in job listings. There were 30 per cent more jobs advertised on the online job site than July 2019.
Country manager Rob Clark said businesses looking to hire should consider what they could do to secure the best talent in a competitive market.
“Since the pandemic began, the number of candidates who view a job ad on Seek and go on to apply for a role has fallen by 15 per cent,” Clark said.
“This fall in jobs applications is not limited to one industry or a specific region. There are staffing challenges in nearly every sector, with month-on-month applications per listing down in 18 of the 28 industries we monitor,” he said.
The company’s research showed flexibility and negotiable work hours were the most sought-after benefit when applying for a new job. Seek’s employment report shows the top three increases in job vacancy numbers for July compared to June were in science and technology, advertising, arts and media and next the healthcare and medical sector.
“Nearly two-thirds of Kiwis look for flexible hours, while more than half want flexibility on work location. Car parks are also in the top perks desired by jobseekers, with nearly half indicating they look for a park while job hunting.”
Statistics NZ’s June 2021 quarter showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.0 per cent and the employment rate rose to 67.6 per cent. Wage rates increased 2.1 per cent and the average weekly earnings for full-time employees, including overtime increased to $1,360.62.
There were 12,000 more 60 to 64-year-olds in work, 9500 more 30–34-year-olds, and 7400 more 40–44-year-olds in employment than the previous year. .
Drake New Zealand’s Wellington-based manager Steve Humphrey said that in such a competitive environment, said there had been a big upswing in permanent positions rather than temporary contracts.
For jobseekers registered with the Ministry of Social Development, agents are encouraging people to look beyond what they have traditionally done and to go to interviews and have conversations to see where they may lead.
Successful Work and Income-referred candidate Mike Underhill said it was this nudge that got him to a job interview for a job packing fish. He was 55 years old with a background in marketing and communications. But after coming back from China late last year, he had applied for 50 jobs and got no interest.
He was raising his three teenagers by himself because his wife Camilla decided to go back to Hong Kong to take up a job there while he was looking. He says a reason he felt he was not being considered was his age and because of being out of New Zealand for 30 years. He lived in China for 30 years and had five years in Hong Kong.
When he got to the interview with Port Nicholson Fisheries Limited in Wellington he realised the company was lacking knowledge in how to market to China. He said his ears pricked up and so did those of the human resources manager who walked him down to meet the boss after realising he was asking interesting questions.
The company was so impressed that after a couple more meetings Underhill was offered a newly-created position of Product and Marketing Manager. He is loving the job he started late last year.
“I wanted to be worth something, I needed to work, so I was prepared to go and pack lobsters and fish,” Underhill said.
“The Work and Income manager kept pushing me to open my mind and this helped me when I was looking for work. It helped me look at myself and situation from a new perspective,” Underhill said.
“We couldn’t just stick our heads in the sand and hope for the best. We had to be open to change and I benefited from support when relying on a benefit and getting job rejections by the dozen.”
He credits his resilient children for helping him keep positive while job hunting. He says they went through the job hunt with him and he and his family are better for it.
“A bunch of good things happened during my time of unemployment. We don’t take things for granted, and we looked at what I could do, not what wasn’t happening, and this part of the reflection process is the silver lining of Covid-19.”
His wife came back from Hong Kong and secured a job with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise while she was in self-isolation.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said there were 12,000 more 60 to 64-year-olds in work, 9500 more 30–34-year-olds, and 7400 more 40–44-year-olds in employment than the previous quarter. The change was year-on-year. (Corrected August 16, 9.50am)
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