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Most workers happy WORKERS' confidence has been dented by talk of a slowing economy, even though many are earning higher wages than a year ago.The Westpac Bank McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index shows a modest fall in employee confidence from 130 in the September quarter to 127.2 in the December quarter. An index number over 100 indicates more optimists than pessimists. Two other indices measure changes in employee confidence about current conditions and changes in confidence about employment expectations. Workers are upbeat about the here and now, reflected in the Cur-rent Conditions Index which rose slightly from 145.6 in September to 146.3 in December. But confidence about future job availability has dropped. The Employment Expectations Index slipped to 114.4, its lowest since the start of the quarterly employment confidence survey in June 2004. Nevertheless, a net 40 per cent expect to be earning more in a year. A net 44 per cent of respondents said they were earning more now than a year ago, the highest in the six quarterly releases of the survey. However, 12 per cent believed that jobs would be harder to get in a year's time, in line with slowing economic growth. Westpac chief economist Brendan O'Donovan said although the economy was slowing it had yet to translate materially into less demand for labour. "The continuing skills shortage means that employers have had to increase wages," Mr O'Donovan said. Wages growth was running at 5.7 per cent a year, Westpac said. Declining business optimism and contraction of the construction industry pointed to the labour market coming off the boil. The survey shows city workers to be more optimistic than those in secondary and rural centres, continuing the trend of earlier quarterly results. Richard Miller, managing director of strategic planning consultancy McDermott Miller, said most employees believed they were secure in their existing jobs. "While Aucklanders see opportunities for growth in earnings as employment conditions tighten and expect skills to be in even greater demand, other New Zealand employees seem to be buckling in for a rough ride." |
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