Trades and Manufacturing lead job ad surge on SEEK

Christmas has come early for jobseekers, new jobs ads on SEEK are up by a solid 9.5 per cent this October, when compared to the same period last year.

Following on from strong job ad growth in September, advertising uplift this October was fuelled by growth across 23 of the 29 industries on SEEK, indicating hirers are keen to secure new employees ahead of the busy festive season and New Year.

Janet Faulding, General Manager for SEEK New Zealand, said the strong demand for tradespeople and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics professionals has been a driving force behind the job ad surge on SEEK this October.

“Trades & Services overtook Information & Communications Technology [ICT] this October as the industry offering the most job opportunities on SEEK, which helped push up job ads for the industry by 21 per cent year on year [y/y] this October,” said Faulding.

The average advertised salary on SEEK this October for the Trades & Services industry was $59,126, and the fields across the industry that had most demand for professionals this October were:

  1. Automotive Trades [up 18 per cent y/y]
  2. Labourers [up 27 per cent y/y] 
  3. Building Trades [up 21 per cent y/y]

“We also saw solid job ad growth on SEEK across the Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics industry, it was the third largest advertiser on SEEK this October, behind Trade & Services and ICT industries,” said Faulding.

“Nationally, the Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics industry also enjoyed strong advertising uplift, increasing 51 per cent y/y this October.”

The average advertised annual salary on SEEK for the Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics industry was $66,990, and the fields across the industry that had most demand for professionals this October were:

  1. Warehousing, Storage & Distribution [up 43 per cent y/y]
  2. Machine Operators [up 69 per cent y/y]
  3. Assembly & Process Work [up 141 per cent y/y]

MAJOR REGIONS

Job ad growth was recorded across all major regions this October compared to twelve months ago.

In our country’s largest labour market of Auckland, job ads were up 4.6 per cent y/y. ICT was the top advertising industry across the region, followed by Manufacturing Transport & Logistics and Trades & Services,” said Faulding.

“Industries that had high job ad growth on SEEK across Auckland this October, were Community Services & Development industry [up 32 per cent y/y] and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics [up 29 per cent y/y],” she added.

“In Wellington, the rate of advertising growth on SEEK was slower, up 3.9 per cent y/y this October. ICT was also the top advertising industry across the region, followed by Administration & Office Support and Trades & Services.  

“Solid advertising growth on SEEK was enjoyed by the Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics industry [up 91 per cent y/y] in Wellington this October,” revealed Faulding.

“Meanwhile, Canterbury notched up eight consecutive months of annual advertising growth on SEEK, up 3.9 per cent y/y this October. Trades & Services, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics and Construction offered the most job opportunities on SEEK across the region.

“In Canterbury, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics also enjoyed strong job ad growth this October, up 66 per cent y/y.

“However, the fastest job ad growth across New Zealand was enjoyed by the smaller North and South Island regions this October, but this was off a much lower base when compared to Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury,” Faulding continued.

in other labour markets, job ads were:

LOCATION

% GROWTH OCT 17 v OCT 16

WEST COAST

up 125.00%

SOUTHLAND

up 42.70%

MARLBOROUGH

up 40.40%

MANAWATU

up 40.10%

TASMAN

up 39.10%

NORTHLAND

up 38.60%

BAY OF PLENTY

up 30.50%

WAIKATO

up 30.50%

OTAGO

up 29.30%

TARANAKI

up 26.70%

HAWKES BAY

up 8.10%

GISBORNE

down 8.60%

INDUSTRY FOCUS – REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY  

New job ads on SEEK for the Real Estate & Property industry remained flat from August to October this year, when compared to the same months in 2016.

“New Zealand’s property market has lost some of its heat, especially in the run up to, and through, September’s general election due to uncertainty over the forming of the new Government,” said Faulding.

“It has been widely reported by the media that the New Zealand property sales activity and growth price will remain subdued into 2018, given uncertainty around the impact of the new Government housing policies,” Faulding added.

The fields across the Real Estate & Property industry that offered the most jobs on SEEK from August to October this year were:

  1. Residential Sales
  2. Commercial Sales, Leasing & Property Management
  3. Residential Leasing & Property Management
  4. Body Corporate & Facilities Management

“In terms of job ad growth across the Real Estate & Property industry, we saw a sharp rise in the demand for Property Analysts [up 92 per cent y/y], a niche and small employing sector of the wider Real Estate & Property industry. This is followed by Commercial Sales, Leasing & Property Management [up 14 per cent y/y] and Administration [up 7 per cent y/y],” said Faulding.

Table 1. New job ad growth on SEEK for the NZ Real Estate & Property Industry,

August to October 2017 v August to October 2016

 

“New Zealand’s major regions of Auckland and Wellington offered the most job opportunities for Real Estate & Property professionals this August to October. However, we are seeing a decline in the number of job opportunities, down by 5 per cent y/y and 4 per cent y/y respectively, when compared to the same three months in 2016,” Faulding continued.

“In Canterbury, advertisements for the Real Estate & Property industry on SEEK grew by 17 per cent y/y from August to October.

“While off a lower base, Waikato in the North Island and Otago in the South Island, also offered good opportunities for Real Estate & Property professionals on SEEK from August to October this year, with job ads for the industry up 15 per cent y/y and 42 per cent y/y respectively,” added Faulding.

“Even though the Real Estate & Property industry may have started to cool, the average advertised salary across the industry, for the August to October 2017 period remained unchanged at $85,211,” concluded Faulding.

Employment Report Data

Media note: When reporting SEEK data, you must attribute SEEK as the source.

About SEEK

SEEK is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, where it is a top 50 company with a market capitalisation close to A$6billion and has been listed in the Top 20 Most Innovative Companies Globally by Forbes, and Number One in Australia.

SEEK is an integral part of New Zealanders job-search process, and as the country’s leading employment marketplace is uniquely positioned to empower New Zealanders with career and volunteer opportunities to create productive and fulfilling working lives.

SEEK is an integral part of New Zealanders job-search process, and as the country’s leading employment marketplace is uniquely positioned to empower New Zealanders with career and volunteer opportunities to create productive and fulfilling working lives.

About the SEEK Employment Report
The SEEK Employment Report provides a comprehensive overview of the New Zealand Employment Marketplace. The report includes the SEEK Employment Index (SEI), which is the first New Zealand aggregate indicator to measure the interaction between labour market supply and labour market demand.

It also includes the SEEK New Job Ad Index which measures only new job ads posted within the reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for labour across all classifications. SEEK’s total job ad volume (not disclosed in this report) includes duplicated job advertisements and refreshed job ads. As a result, the SEEK New Job Ad Index does not always match the movement in SEEK’s total job ad volume.

Disclaimer: The Data should be viewed and regarded as standalone information and should not be aggregated with any other information whether or not such information has been previously provided by SEEK Limited, ("SEEK"). The Data is given in summary form and whilst care has been taken in its preparation, SEEK makes no representations whatsoever about its completeness or accuracy. SEEK expressly bears no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed by you on the Data, or from the use of the Data by you. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.