Job ads fall by 3% in NZ, second decline in 2022

Advertisements for jobs in New Zealand decreased by 3% in June compared to May. This is the second decline in 2022, Seek New Zealand has reported. 

“This is the largest fall recorded on seek.co.nz in 10 months. However, job ads remain 35% higher than pre-pandemic levels,” Seek NZ country manager Rob Clark said. 

“This is demonstrative of the prolonged growth experienced in all industries and regions over the past two years.”

Other observations

Seek noted applications per job rose by 5% in June when compared to the previous month of May. This is  the highest month-over-month increase since July 2021.

Job advertisement increases were recorded in the smaller regions of New Zealand in June. These regions are Taranaki, up 9%; Marlborough, up 8%; and the West Coast, up 7%.

However, declines in larger cities resulted in national job ad numbers falling. Job ads in Auckland dropped by 3%, while in Wellington and Canterbury they fell 4% and 6% month on month respectively.

“Job ad levels have increased in every region year-on-year, and in comparison to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. While many larger regions saw a drop in job ads last month, there was growth in the smaller regions,” Clark said. 

“As restrictions ease, including hard borders, smaller regions have rebounded to a greater degree when compared to their urban counterparts. Job ads in some of these areas are now significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.”

Three industries recorded a month-over-month increase in jobs ads in June. These are Education and Training (up 4%),  Advertising, Arts and Media (up 4%) and Mining, Resources and Energy (up 8%).

The industries driving the month-over-month declines were Construction (down 14%), Administration and Office Support (down 7%) and Marketing and Communications (down 13%).