Employers scramble for staff

The Manawatu/whanganui region is riding a wave of economic activity that has employers scrambling for new staff.

ANZ’S monthly Job Ads report showed a 26.6 per cent increase in ads on a year agofor Manawatu/ Whanganui.

Palmerston North City Council economic policy adviser Peter Crawford said this continued an extended streak of jobs growth in the region, thanks to a strong construction industry and a resurgent agricultural sector.

ANZ senior economist Sharon Zollner said the 18.2 per cent national figure was a strong jump from an already impressive base.

‘‘It’ll be hard to repeat this trick too many more times. The economic cycle is maturing and staff are harder to find.’’

Zollner said companies continued to report the difficulty finding new employees was one of the biggest factors slowing their growth.

Auckland-based firm Unlimited Internet was responsible for some of Manawatu/whanganui’s April ads increase. The internet service provider has set up its new customer service centre in Palmerston North, in the old Gen-i building on Queen St.

In the past month, an initial seven-person crew has got the service centre up and running, and the company advertised an additional 10 positions.

Unlimited chief executive Ben Simpson said each position attracted about 20 applicants, despite the ads running outside the peak period for IT jobseekers.

Massey University and UCOL’S IT programmes were part of the reason Simpson chose to set up the centre in the city, and he hoped to establish a good relationship with both institutions and their students.

Palmerston North was a cheaper place to operate than Auckland, and he expected staff turnover to be lower.

‘‘Auckland is congested... office space is expensive, hourly rates are increasing, as are the costs of living.’’

Unlimited expected to hire 20 more people at the service centre by the end of the year and planned to eventually run the it 24/7.

Crawford said all the indicators coming across his desk suggested Manawatu/whanganui would have solid jobs growth for the forseeable future.

For example, more people bought cars this April compared with 12 months ago, with new registrations up 20 per cent for the wider Manawatu.

The total value of building consents in the three months to March was 31 per cent higher than in 2016.

The ANZ Commodity Price Index showed the average dairy product export price rose 46 per cent since last April and Fonterra almost doubled its payout to $6 a kilogram of milksolids.

‘‘There are so many good, strong economic indicators [for the region].

‘‘The building consents growth shows there’ll be a lot of building. That’s going to be the driver of a lot of growth in the regional GDP over the next couple of years.’’