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

Wide shortage of skilled men

THE good news for people interested in emigrating to New Zealand is that there is a general shortage of skilled workers in both islands.
This shortage affects companies in a wide range of industries in both the major cities and in smaller cities and regional areas.
Perhaps surprisingly, some firms are also finding it difficult to attract suitable unskilled workers.
And all this will push up wages and most preferably also inflation and interest rates.
The average weekly income from wages alone was $348 per week in the June quarter.
Statistics New Zealand says this is up 4.6 per cent due to a 3.2 per cent rise in pay and a 3 per cent increase in the number of people in paid work.
The average individual income from all sources was $554 per week.
But the greatest common problem expressed by businesses is still their difficulty in finding suitable workers, according to the latest Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) survey of business expectations over the next six months.
The proportion of firms (22 per cent) who say labour is the one factor most limiting their ability to increase turnover is at a very high level.
NZIER's Doug Steel: "One firm in two reports difficulty in finding skilled labour and one in three finds even
unskilled labour hard to come by."
The economy is maintaining its strength with new orders, output and sales all at high levels, as are staffing levels and overtime.
Meanwhile, firm's capacity use — how hard they are running their plant and machinery — is at the highest level since the survey began in 1961.