Semi-skilled staff in high demand

‘‘Growth is strong for construction and hospitality jobs’’

If you ever wanted to be a digger driver, now may be you chance.

The number of jobs advertised online rose 0.6 per cent in May, from April, and were up 11.8 per cent on May last year, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

The biggest rise in demand was for machinery drivers and operators, the ministry said, with job ads up 2.6 per cent from April, and nearly 30 per cent when compared to May last year.

The next biggest jump was for labourers.

Overall, hospitality and tourism (up 1.6 per cent, monthly) and construction and engineering (up 1.4 per cent) were the hottest sectors.

Despite frequent claims that people need more skills to thrive in the modern labour market and to avoid losing their jobs to automation, the largest increases in demand were for semi-skilled, unskilled and low-skilled roles, in that order.

Vacancies for IT workers were down 1.5 per cent from April and down 14 per cent from May last year.

An OECD report issued last week said Kiwis were the most likely in the developed world to be overqualified for the jobs they were in.

Online vacancies were up across New Zealand.

‘‘Overall, growth in vacancies is steady, while growth is strong for construction and hospitality jobs,’’ spokeswoman Nita Zodgekar said.