13th December 2011

New jobs up 9.3% on last year

A quieter finish to the year is not on the cards for the employment sector in 2011, as the SEEK New Job Ad Index shows a 2.2% growth in new job ads in November. Over the last month all regions have posted an increase in new jobs, bar one, and there has been a national increase of 9.3% over the last 12 months.

“Surprisingly, Wellington has driven this growth notching up their biggest increase in new jobs since June with an impressive 6.7% rise,” says Janet Faulding General Manager of SEEK New Zealand.

“Canterbury continues their strong performance with a 5.2% rise in November, their eighth month of growth over the last nine months, and an incredible 52.9% increase over the last year. It’s Auckland who is bucking the trend with a slight drop of 0.4%”.

Most importantly, the growth in new job ads hasn’t been outweighed by the growth in applications which points to improving job seeking conditions for Kiwis. The SEEK Employment Index (SEI) measures the ratio of new job ads placed on www.seek.co.nz the country’s largest job source, to the number of applications for those jobs. Over November the SEI increased by 2.5%, showing that new job ads grew faster than applications for those roles.

“Auckland performed well in the SEEK Employment Index this month, posting an increase of 2.3%, despite a dip in new job ad numbers. This means there was an even bigger drop in applications so competition for some roles will have improved over the month – positive news for job seekers,” notes Ms Faulding.

Contrary to popular belief, New Zealand is also experiencing stronger growth than Australia. Since January new job ads have risen by 4.5% in New Zealand, compared to a decline of 2.0% in Australia.

Job Applications

November’s top five most competitive occupations:
1. Retail and Consumer Products – Retail Assistants
2. Administration and Office Support – Administrative Assistants
3. Information and Communication Technology – Help Desk and IT Support
4. Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics – Warehousing, Storage and Distribution
5. Hospitality and Tourism – Chefs/cooks

Retail Assistant roles remain the most competitive jobs in New Zealand, receiving more applications per job advertised than any other on www.seek.co.nz. Those rounding out the top five most competitive occupations are reoccurring placeholders except for cook/chef roles.

November’s top five most sought after employees:
1. Healthcare and Medical – Physiotherapy, OT and Rehabilitation
2. Engineering – Civil/Structural Engineering
3. Government and Defence – Government
4. Accounting – Business Services and Corporate Advisory
5. Trades and Services – Automotive Trades

Those working in Physiotherapy, OT and Rehabilitation roles remain the most sought after employees in New Zealand for the second consecutive month. These roles receive the least number of applications per job advertised, meaning employers find these positions hardest to fill.

About SEEK
SEEK Limited is the leading online employment and training site in New Zealand. SEEK is a media company using the internet as its distribution channel. SEEK (NZ) Ltd was incorporated in September 1999. SEEK (NZ) Ltd manages seek.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest employment website and one of the best known Internet brands. Currently over 15,000 employment vacancies are advertised on seek.co.nz and the site notched up almost 2.3 million visits from jobseekers in September 2011(Nielsen Net Rankings, NZ Total Traffic, September 2011).

About the SEEK Employment Index
Developed in consultation with Victoria Centre for Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University, Melbourne, the SEEK Employment Index (SEI) is the first New Zealand aggregate indicator to measure the interaction between labour market supply and labour market demand. Specifically, the SEI represents the relationship between demand for workers and jobseeker activity. When the index increases, it demonstrates a ‘tightening’ employment market; where advertisers find it harder to fill roles (i.e. demand outweighs supply). This is favourable for jobseekers, as job opportunities are greater and competition between applicants is reduced. Inversely, as the index falls, it demonstrates a ‘softening’ employment market (i.e. supply outweighs demand) and advertisers find it easier to fill roles. In this instance, jobseekers need to compete more for available jobs.

ENDS

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