A record number of jobs are being advertised, and many employers are offering extra incentives to attract applicants, recruitment website Seek says.
It said there 9 per cent fewer people applying for jobs on seek.co.nz in July than June, and 30 per cent more jobs advertised on the site than July 2019.
International recruitment agency Robert Walters’ Auckland-based associate director Sindy Ward compared the current job market to the hot New Zealand housing market.
“The labour market is hot like the property market that sees multiple buyers for a property, job candidates have multiple potential employers want them,” Ward said.
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“Recruitment work shot up in February and has not slowed up.”
Ward said the shortage of applicants was not only in retail or manual labour jobs but for office support roles too, and in particular IT and jobs in legal.
“What we saw was employers being cautious mid-last year, and then they had overly stressed staff because of some retention and Covid-19, but they then saw business was doing better than expected and now need to recruit,” she said.
Ward said the company was seeking out candidates because it had found there were fewer active job seekers.
“We are head-hunting for talent.”
Seek’s July job listings were “record-breaking”. It was the fifth consecutive month that the site had an increase in job listings and a decline in applicant numbers.
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.
“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.”
Seek reported a “bump in average pay”. Robert Walters and Trade Me Jobs report the same trend.
Trade Me Jobs spokesman Matt Tolich said it was a job hunter’s market.
“Following on from a strong start to the year, we saw the highest number of jobs ever advertised on Trade Me in the quarter ending June 30,” he said.
“June 2021 saw a whopping 43 per cent increase in job listings compared with June last year, when we had just emerged from the nationwide lock down. This shows just how strong, and quickly, the job market has bounced back.”
The largest increases were in hospitality and tourism, up 56 per cent, manufacturing and operations, up 52 per cent and, construction and roading up 46 per cent on the previous quarter.Applications, on the other hand, did not keep up.
“We’re still seeing a massive candidate shortage in the market with the absence of migrant workers. The fact is, right now there are not enough people in New Zealand to fulfil demand in numerous job categories and this is constraining the ability of kiwi business to grow,” Tolich said.
“Employers were willing to put more money on the table to lure and secure the talent they want.”
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.
The areas with the greatest increase in job vacancy listings were Taranaki at 14 per cent and Gisborne at 12 per cent.
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