Wellington leads the way in job opportunities

SEEK has released its latest Employment Report for New Zealand, showcasing trends in job ad growth and advertised salaries. The data from the report highlights that Wellington is leading the way with job opportunities.

Nationally, job ads have risen by 8.7%, but Wellington has seen one of the biggest surges with a huge 9.7% increase in the city alone. Advertised salaries have also spiked by 2.8% compared to the 1.8% national average since October 2017. 

Janet Faulding, General Manager for SEEK New Zealand, comments: “Our team has been extremely busy speaking to Wellington based recruiters over the last few months. They are on the hunt for talent, especially in government and accounting industries. 

“Our relatively small capital is really holding the flag for job growth in New Zealand as a whole.”

In the capital, Government and Defence job advertisements soared by 45% (compared to 29% nationally), followed by 34% in Accounting (7% nationally) and 26% in Legal (19% nationally) since the same period last year. 

The top three industries with the highest volume of job ad growth for New Zealand included ICT, Trades & Services and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics, all with over 10% growth making up 29% of job advertisements in the last three months.  

Ben Pearson, General Manager for Beyond Recruitment in Wellington, comments: “The lift of the public sector headcount cap earlier this year has released a latent demand for a range of skill types, and there is increased hiring occurring as a result. 

“Our business has had a noticeably busier first half of the year due to the increased demand. Daily we see upward salary negotiation which is generally successful, so it’s not surprising to see this playing out as a trend in the report.”
 
Salary trends
 
Wellington advertised salaries have also risen by  2.8%  compared to Auckland and Canterbury which saw respective 2.1% and 0.8% spikes. 

The highest salary growth in the capital was in Mining, Resources & Energy, with pay increasing by 17.8% since this time last year and the average wage sitting at $111,838. 

Salaries in Construction and Banking & Financial Services also increased by 14.5% and 10.4% respectively over the past year, with average earnings totalling over $100k in both industries.

Craig Ebert, Senior Economist at BNZ said: “The strong annual growth in SEEK’s Wellington results looks to be more than just a rebound from disproportionate caution this time last year, when election uncertainty reigned in the capital. 

“Of course, there is a common perception that centre-left governments, as we now have, tend to boost the size of the bureaucracy and civil service, which is strongly represented in Wellington. However, the strength in the SEEK data appears to be spread well beyond these particular areas.”