Job market booming - Trade Me

All regions across New Zealand have recorded growth in the number of jobs advertised on Trade Me.

Trade Me’s job listings were up 19% nationwide compared to the same period last year, outlined in Trade Me’s quarterly job report.

Trade Me’s Head of Jobs Peter Osborne says this is continuing the healthy job market trend.

“Growth in listings has been very strong, despite the potential handbrake effect of the unusual combination of Easter and Anzac holidays in March.”

Mr Osborne says he’s hearing plenty of optimistic reports from recruiters and employers and most advertisers are upbeat.

The report comes after the Hudson report on Employment trends, released last week, showed signs of improvement in hiring intentions for the first time in years, with hiring intentions rising to 31.8%.

Trade Me’s findings reflect this result and show job availability for roles in trade, construction and transport have increased since last year.

Agriculture, fishing and forestry are up 34.7% since last year, as well as science and technology, up 27.6% and hospitality and tourism, up 23%.

“The Christchurch rebuild remains a major contributor and we’re seeing a shift in the type of demand from construction related roles to professionals and infrastructure roles,” Mr Osborne says.

He adds Auckland still accounts for 40% of all job advertised across the country and “will continue to be a beacon of opportunity.”

Bay of Plenty was up 13.2% from last year, the West Coast showed a 48.7% increase and Southland was up a massive 65.6%.

Mr Osborne adds he’s upbeat about the coming months.

“We’re confident the market will continue to grow despite the cool-down in May.

“Employer confidence remains high and there are still a number of sectors where candidates are in short supply and set to drive underlying growth.”

Jason Walls is an AUT journalism student