Good news for Kiwis: Increase in jobs ads - IT workers in highest demand

A recent report by Seek, the Seek Employment Report, provides an overview of the current state of the New Zealand employment market. The findings show a 9.7% increase in new jobs ads on Seek during April 2017 since the same time-period in 2016.

Seek also highlights the industries across New Zealand currently offering the most job opportunities and their average advertised annual salaries as of April 2017:

• Information - Communication Technology [ICT] ($93,111)
• Trades - Services ($59,444)
• Manufacturing, Transport - Logistics ($65,426)

Across all industries in New Zealand, the average advertised salary on Seek in April 2017 was $75,889.

The report breaks down the findings into regions: Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington.

"Of the major regions, Auckland enjoyed the largest job ad growth on Seek this April, up 9.7% y/y," comments Janet Faulding, general manager, Seek New Zealand.

Three industries were fuelling this growth, which offered the subsequent average advertised annual salaries on Seek:

• Information - Communication Technology [ICT] ($93,172)
• Manufacturing, Transport - Logistics ($64,744)
• Administration - Office Support ($52,19)

"The ICT fields with the greatest demand for workers were Development/Programming, Business System Analysts and Programme - Project Management," Faulding continues.

Faulding says that the need for highly skilled ICT professionals is ever increasing to keep Kiwi's digitally connected and competitive, and this demand is not isolated to just the IT sector.

"Currently on SEEK, ICT jobs are being advertised across many sectors, including Banking - Financial Services, Government and Retail," Faulding continues.

While off a low base, strong job ad growth on Seek was seen in Auckland's Advertising, Arts - Media industry this April, up 25% y/y.

The fields with greatest demand for workers throughout the industry were Agency Account Management [up 18% y/y] and Journalism - Writing [up 16% y/y].

"Opportunities on Seek for this sector (Advertising, Arts - Media) are a mix of internal and agency roles that require varying levels of experience, therefore appealing to a broad range of job seekers," adds Faulding.

Faulding says that in the South Island, advertising on Seek for Canterbury increased y/y for a second consecutive month, up 2.4% y/y.

"This welcomed uplift across the region comes after job ad growth on Seek was subdued since March 2015, which coincided with the earthquake rebuild slowing," Faulding says.

The top industries for job opportunities across Canterbury this April, and their average annual advertised salaries were:

• Trades - Services ($60,141)
• Construction ($95,867)
• Manufacturing, Transport - Logistics ($61,030)

According to Faulding, the most sought after Trades - Services professional across Canterbury in April 2017 were electricians, automotive mechanics - technicians, and builders.

"This reflects the skills the Canterbury population needs personally, such as getting their car serviced, or for residential and commercial projects, like construction," continues Faulding.

Although the Canterbury advertising industry on Seek is small, a strong job growth was recorded for the Community, Services - Development sector in April 2017 (up 39% y/y).

Child Welfare, Youth - Family Services and Aged - Disability Services were the fields across this industry offering the largest number of employment prospects.

In April 2017, the top advertising industries on Seek for Wellington were:

• Information - Communication Technology ($100,787)
• Administration - Office Support ($51,203)
• Trades - Services ($60,434)

In Wellington, the ICT fields offering the most job opportunities as of April 2017 are Business and System Analysts, Developers and Programmers and Programme - Project.

Faulding says that in Wellington, new job ads on Seek remained relatively flat this April [down 0.9% y/y] after strong y/y growth in March [up 10.7% y/y].

"Fewer trading day in April, due to the timing of Easter and ANZAC Day, is a likely reason why the Wellington jobs market y/y growth stabilised. However, month on month advertising on Seek for the region rose slightly, up 0.9%," continues Faulding.

In Wellington, one of the fastest growing industries this April was Real Estate - Property (up 33% y/y). The fields within Real Estate - Property with the greatest demand for workers were Body Corporate - Facilities Management and Commercial Sales, Leasing - Property Management.

Overall, Faulding explains, "relative to 12 months ago, competition conditions were tougher for jobseekers in Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury this April, this means there has been a slight increase in the number of people applying for jobs on Seek.

"However, it was still a candidate's market this April, meaning candidates still had the upper hand over hirer's when applying for jobs,