Stable start for job market in 2011

The New Zealand job market has had a stable start to the New Year with the SEEK New Job Ad Index revealing three months of consecutive growth. The number of new jobs listed on New Zealand’s largest job source rose again in February, with an increase of nearly 2%.

“This rise is largely due to the burst of hiring activity traditionally seen in January continuing into February this year”, comments Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand.

“We’ve seen a strong 7.2% increase in the number of new job ads listed on seek.co.nz over the last three months as the county’s job market continues to grow”.

As expected, an instant decrease (8.7%) was seen in the number of new job ads in the Canterbury region for the month as hiring activity came to a halt when the devastating earthquake hit in Christchurch on 22nd February.

The SEEK Employment Index (SEI) fell by 1% in February for the first time since September 2010. The SEI is the ratio of new job ads placed on seek.co.nz during the month, to the number of applications for those jobs. Although new job ads rose in February, the decrease in the SEI is attributed to an increase of 2.9% in the number of applications. This means it’s becoming slightly more competitive for job seekers applying for roles.

Despite this slight dip in the SEI in February, this month’s figures are still a considerable 19% improvement on February 2010’s SEI numbers.

Job Applications

February’s top five most competitive occupations:

• Call Centre/Customer Service – Call Centre Operator
• Information & Communications Technology – Help Desk and IT Support
• Administration – Receptionists
• Retail & Consumer Products – Retail Assistant
• Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics – Warehousing, Storage and Distribution roles

The number one most competitive occupation in February was Call Centre Operators, reclaiming this position having been moved from the top spot in January for the first time in four months. Warehouse, Storage and Distribution roles are a new addition on the most competitive occupation list, not having been listed since April 2010.

• February’s top five most sought after employees:
• Engineering – Civil and Structural Engineers
• Government and Defense – Government
• Healthcare and Medical – Nurses – General Medical and Surgery
• Trades and Services – Automotive Trades
• Information and Communications Technology – Consultants

Those who work in the Engineering roles are the number one most sought after employees for the month of February, with these roles receiving the least applications per advertisement. Positions in Automotive trade positions have now featured in the most sought after employee list for two consecutive months, a first for these roles.