Job opportunities in Design and Architecture

15 May 2015

Auckland’s hot housing market fuelling job opportunities in Design and Architecture

The latest new job ad data from SEEK shows that the hot property market in Auckland has had a rub on effect in the number of job opportunities available in Design and Architecture with the industry up 49 per cent year on year in new job ads.

General Manager of SEEK New Zealand, Janet Faulding said, “In terms of where the demand is coming from, close to 70 per cent of all Design and Architecture jobs are in Auckland, and its seen impressive year on year growth in job opportunities of 64 per cent. Canterbury is the next biggest market in terms of job opportunities which have grown 23 percent year on year. Wellington is up 50 per cent, however the market is a lot smaller so it’s likely opportunities for jobseekers in those areas would be tightly contested.”

Architecture was the biggest driver of growth in the industry, up 160 per cent year on year.

Other sectors in the Design and Architecture industry have also benefited from the growth in housing demand. Smaller employing industries whose growth can be attributed to the surging property market include Interior Design, up 238 per cent year on year, Architectural Drafting, up 10 per cent, and Landscape Architecture, up 50 per cent over the same time period.

“It’s not surprising to see such strong demand in the Design and Architecture industry given how hot the property markets across New Zealand have been. It will be interesting to see if this demand continues given the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s recently announced measures to cool the market, in fear of a potential real-estate bubble, particularly in Auckland,” says Ms Faulding.

APRIL NEW JOB ADS DATA

Looking at the employment market broadly, new job ads on SEEK decreased 0.5% in the month to April 2015.

There remains strong growth in some of New Zealand’s largest employing industries, Accounting is up 18 per cent year on year, Healthcare and Medical is up 6 per cent and Administration and Office Support is up 7 per cent.

Overall, the number of new job advertisements appears to have plateaued in recent months but this isn’t necessarily a sign of things to come, explains Craig Ebert, Senior Economist, Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities, BNZ Markets.

“The latest Household Labour Force Survey results show employment rose 3.2% in the first quarter of this year and recent surveys have shown that employment intentions remain strong. This suggests the number of roles advertised may improve in coming months,” said Mr Ebert.

REGIONAL TRENDS

Regionally, Auckland’s labour market remained relatively unchanged month on month rising 0.6 per cent. Wellington new job ads dipped 1.7 per cent while new job ads in Canterbury were down 4 per cent, offsetting the 2 per cent growth recorded for March.

In trend terms, the regions of Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough and Southland continue to show upward trajectories with respect to new job ads. This is against the larger markets of Auckland and Christchurch which are plateauing after a strong run of growth in the labour market. Wellington and Taranaki continue to show signs of a softening labour market.

SEEK EMPLOYMENT INDEX

The SEEK Employment Indicator (SEI) during the month of April 2015 fell by 0.3%, indicating stronger application growth than job ad growth last month.

ENDS

© Scoop Media