Auto industry leads job boom
New Zealand’s red-hot employment market shows no sign of running out of steam, according to the latest market report from Trade Me. New job listings on the website were up 12.3 per cent year-on-year, the fourth consecutive quarter with double-digit growth in new listings. “The job market has experienced unbelievable growth over the last year, and we’ve seen listings up in every region across the country which is very rare,” said Head of Jobs Jeremy Wade. “Every region around the country, excluding the Bay of Plenty, is outpacing our three main centres for the second quarter in a row.” The West Coast had the increase in year-on-year job listings, up 53 per cent, followed by Marlborough, up 47.4 per cent, and Gisborne, up 38.6 per cent. The slowest job growth was in Canterbury, up 4.7 per cent, Wellington, up 6.4 per cent, and the Bay of Plenty, up 8.9 per cent. Automotive was one of the strongest-performing industries, with 31.1 per cent growth in jobs ads. This was surpassed only by manufacturing and operations, up 32.5 per cent, and transport and logistics, up 32.8 per cent. In their analysis of over 72,000 vacancies listed on the website in the second quarter of 2017, Trade Me reported that many sectors finally saw rises in wages and salaries following years of stilted growth. Wade said sectors that were in demand for new staff were starting to offer new money. “We’re not seeing the wage growth we expected yet, but we’re starting to see some green shoots in what has been a pretty barren landscape for Kiwi job hunters,” he said. “The sectors needing people the most are starting to offer more.” “The 13 sectors with the highest growth in new listings have all had jumps in wages, with automotive roles (average pay up 5 per cent year-on-year) and construction (up 8 per cent) leading the way.” Auckland City was found to have the highest average earnings, at $71,725, beating Wellington, which had average listed wages of $66,853, for the second quarter in a row. Whakatane came in third, with an average wage of $59,982.
