Hiring outlook picks up as Christchurch rebuild commences

New Zealand’s hiring outlook picks up as Christchurch rebuild commences:

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey Q2 2013

New Zealand (12 March 2013): The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey indicates hiring intentions in New Zealand will increase in the second quarter of 2013, as the commencement of construction in Christchurch buoys activity across most sectors.

The survey, which measures the hiring intentions for the coming quarter of over 650 employers, found that New Zealand employers are reporting a Net Employment Outlook of +21%. Thirty-one per cent of employers New Zealand plan to increase hiring in the April-June time frame, while 8 per cent plan to decrease hiring and 60 per cent plan on making no changes. The resulting Net Employment Outlook of +21% is an increase of three percentage points from last quarter.

Lincoln Crawley, Managing Director ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand, said employers are beginning to see the flow-on effects of the rebuild.

“Now that construction has commenced in Christchurch, employers are more optimistic about the coming quarter, with the NEO for Christchurch alone climbing by 16 percentage points to +28%,” said Mr Crawley.
“While hiring intentions in the country’s Mining & Construction sector have dropped since last quarter, the stronger forecast previously reported was due to expectations that the rebuild would begin sooner. Now that construction has kicked off, employers have a more realistic idea of the resources they’ll need and are able to provide more accurate workforce planning forecasts,” he said.

Across the country, employers in Auckland reported a five percentage point increase in hiring intentions, to an NEO of +22%, while employers in Wellington reported an increase of two percentage points to an NEO of +20%.
By sector, employers in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate reported an increase in hiring intentions of four percentage points, with an NEO of +24%. The Manufacturing sector reported an outlook of +20%, up seven percentage points quarter on quarter. Meanwhile, Transport and Utilities employers expect hiring intentions to increase by four percentage points, to an NEO of +28%. ManpowerGroup • Level 22, Tower 2, Darling Park, 201 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 • www.manpowergroup.com.au

Employers in Wholesale and Retail Trade reported a strong increase in hiring intentions, with the NEO up 12 percentage points quarter on quarter to +20%. The strongest gains were in Public Administration and Education, with hiring intentions up 23 percentage points to +24%. The Services sector reported a moderate drop, down four percentage points to +21%.

Mr Crawley said that the employment outlook in New Zealand was strong. Q2 2013 Quarter-on-Quarter
change Year-on-year
change
National +21% +3% +3%
Auckland +22% +5% +9%
Christchurch +28% +16% +1%
Wellington +20% +2% +0%

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