Regions outpace cities on jobs growth
If you are looking for a job in construction, moving to Auckland might be a good idea.
Competition for construction workers has pushed the average pay up 21 per cent in Auckland since June last year to almost $99,000, according to Trade Me Jobs figures.
Construction Labour Hire boss Paul Mulholland had struggled for almost 10 years to hire skilled construction staff.
‘‘We’re struggling all over the country. Trying to find skilled carpenters that have the knowledge to build is very hard. While there are a lot of apprenticeships now and more and more young people are getting into the trade it takes years and years to learn a new craft.’’
‘‘So we’re having to get skill in from overseas and we are very reliant on it.
Wages had skyrocketed, increasing by 20 to 25 per cent to attract talent, he said.
The regions were also seeing continued jobs growth, with every region except the Bay of Plenty outpacing Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch for the second quarter in a row.
Job listings for Waikato were up 27 per cent since June last year, and Otago up 25 per cent.
But the number of people applying for jobs in the regions was down, leading to higher wages on offer to attract skilled workers.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said the figures were not surprising.
‘‘It’s a pretty uniform story. Wage increases overall have been moderate, but construction is a place we have seen wage growth for some time,’’ he said.
‘‘The difficulty of finding skilled labour by New Zealand businesses across the economy is registering the highest since the middle of 2005.
‘‘We’ve got a fairly healthy economy so there are lots of jobs being created and we are seeing unemployment fall.
‘‘But the more it falls, the more you get pockets of skills shortages. Then that starts to drive up wages in areas that are feeling those pressures most.’’
The 13 sectors with the highest growth in job listings were all offering higher wages to attract workers, with automotive sector wages up 5 per cent since 2016, and construction up 8 per cent.
Around the country construction jobs were up 26.5 per cent, but transport had the biggest growth at almost 33 per cent.