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July 11 2011 - An analysis of over 39,000 jobs listed on Trade Me Jobs between April and June shows that the New Zealand job market is strong, with listings up by 27 per cent on the same period in 2010. Peter Ashby, head of Trade Me Jobs, said:

"The pendulum is definitely swinging in favour of the job seeker again with more jobs, less competition amongst applicants and pay packets up more than 3.5% on the same period last year."

With all the main regional centres showing growth rates in excess of 20 per cent - 65 per cent in Canterbury - Peter Ashby said that: "Jobs at the pointy end of the recovery effort have showed strong growth, with trades & services listings more than doubling, and construction & architecture up four-fold. What’s really encouraging is that we’re seeing growth in other sectors like IT which is up 70% on a year ago."

Commenting on stellar growth in Northland (up 38 per cent) and Southland (up 61 per cent) compared to the same quarter last year, he continued:

"Much of Northland’s growth can be attributed to healthcare and large infrastructure projects. Down in Southland higher commodity prices across drystock and dairy seem to be rippling through to the broader economy."

The IT sector featured highly with 6,300 jobs advertised on Trade Me Jobs in the quarter - 60 per cent up on a year ago. Growth was driven by:

• networking and systems roles (+121%)
• helpdesk roles (+112%) and
• test analysts (up 110%)

"While many sectors showed great relative growth, the bulk of the increase was driven by the demand for developers. Overall, developer listings now account for a quarter of all the IT listings on Trade Me Jobs," Peter Ashby said. He noted that banking, finance and insurance postings were also up by 53 per cent over the year. "It’s no surprise the recent events in Canterbury have contributed to an increased demand for employees for insurance related roles. There’s also been good growth in banking and finance roles within Auckland and Hamilton in the past three months."

Looking ahead, he commented:

"We’re hopeful the recent CERA announcements and optimistic business sentiment will start to erode some of the post-quake uncertainty and flow through to continued growth in employment.

"The impact of the Rugby World Cup will also spur a short-term increase in activity as hospitality and tourism businesses staff up for the influx of domestic and international visitors."

Peter Ashby feels that continued solid growth in the New Zealand job market could reduce emigration to Australia. "While wages are higher across the Tasman, jobs listings are down significantly on a year ago over there and this may help us hold on to some of those people considering leaving New Zealand."

"We expect unemployment to drop and demand to increase for roles where it’s proving harder to attract candidates like IT specialists, environmental & building services engineers and senior marketing & communications managers. This will mean employers will be forced to offer higher wages to keep their best and brightest."