Home > Our Publications > New Zealand Outlook > 2004 > December

Skilled workers needed in all areas

IT IS the best of times to look for a job, but the worst of times for some employers seeking skilled workers.

Unemployment is at a 17-year low and almost 34,000 job advertisements ran in New Zealand's main newspapers last month - the most in 10 years.

ANZ Bank's latest job ads survey shows "ongoing strength" this year, the number rising 0.2 per cent in August, after a 3.5 per cent gah1 in July.

The bank said its figures and surveys of employment intentions pointed to more jobs being created this year and into 2005, although the rate of job growth might decline.

Job advertising increased by almost 10 per cent in the past year to "0eclipse previous peaks in mid-2001 and mid- 1995". ANZ said. "Job advertising in the major newspapers remains at the highest level in the 10-year history of the [job ad series]."

Including the Internet, job ads totalled more than 48,000.

"Jobs advertising at historically high numbers is good news for job seekers, but highlights the difficulty businesses face in recruiting suitably skilled staff." ANZ Bank said.

"A lack of applicants is a legacy of a prolonged period of strong growth in the New Zealand economy." The economy is expected to grow more than 4 per cent this year.

In a recent Institute of Economic Research business survey, difficulty finding skilled labour was cited by a net 49 per cent of firms as the most common limiting factor on productivity increases.

The labour shortage was most pronounced in the building sector, 53 per cent of firms reporting labour as the factor most limiting increases in turnover.