With New Zealand now at Alert Level 1 for COVID-19, many businesses are in recovery mode. As restrictions have eased, job ad volumes have slowly started to return, suggesting the employment market may have turned a corner. But how are candidates and employees feeling about their working lives?
SEEK Market Insights. 3 min read. written by Lindy Alexander
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Here’s a look at what’s happening in the job market, which industries have been hit hardest by lockdown and how Kiwis are feeling about their employment prospects and more.
Signs of recovery
SEEK data shows job advertising in the fortnight ending 28 June was at 57.1% of pre-COVID-19 levels (February 2020). “For jobseekers this is welcome news, as it’s a long way from the job data we saw during the lowest point of the pandemic, which was April 2020” says Janet Faulding, General Manager SEEK NZ.
There are positive signs in the regions, with the majority showing an increase in job ad volumes compared to pre-COVID-19.
Demand in all the main centres are all over half way back to pre-COVID levels:
- Wellington (63%)
- Canterbury (56%)
- Auckland (51%)
Hard-hit industries showing change
Many industries which were hit hard by lockdown have seen an uptick in job ad volumes as restrictions ease.
Here are the industries with the most job ads on site, and how job ad numbers compare to pre-COVID-19:
- Trades & Services (59%): roles such as Building Trades, Labourers and Automotive Trades
- Information & Communication Technology (54%): Developers/ Programmers, Business/ Systems Analysts, Software Engineering, Help Desk & IT Support and Project Management
- Healthcare & Medical (82%): Psychology, Counselling & Social Work and Nursing (Aged Care and General Medical), Physiotherapy, Dental and Medical Administration
- Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (57%): Warehousing, Storage & Distribution, Machine Operators and Assembly & Process Work and Road Transport
- Construction (57%): Project Management, Foreperson/ Supervisors, Plant & Machinery Operators
Candidates feeling less uncertain
While the return of job ads is a positive sign, there’s still a long road to recovery ahead. Working situations are ‘back to normal’ for just 12% of people.
The easing of restrictions has meant candidates are feeling less uncertain than in May.
Research conducted on behalf of SEEK shows a slight improvement in the number of people who feel there aren’t enough jobs out there (49% in May vs. 43% in June) and on average, candidates are feeling more secure in their jobs than they did in previous months (71% in June vs. 66% in May).
Source: Independent research conducted by Nature on behalf of SEEK. Interviewing 4000 Kiwis annually.
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