Job listings bounce back close to prepandemic levels

WELLINGTON: Job listings were almost back at their preCovid levels by the end of the last quarter, Seek NZ says.

The employment marketplace’s website listings increased nearly a fifth (19%) in the three months to December 31, but were down 7% on the corresponding period in 2019.

Sectors with the highest job listings growth were information and communication technology; manufacturing; transport and logistics; and trades and services.

Seek NZ general manager Janet Faulding said in a statement Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury were most affected last year, but the latestquarter figures showed strong improvement.

While yearonyear job listings were down between 3% and 15% in those three regions, compared with the previous quarter, Auckland rose 24%, Wellington increased 20% and Canterbury was up 17%.

Some provincial regions even recorded higher listing rates than before the pandemic.

Mr Faulding said after the general election there was a noticeable lift in business confidence around the country.

More certainty led to continued growth before the holiday period, particularly in retail and hospitality.

However, in the major cities, roles in professional services (accounting, HR, marketing and communications) and consumer services (administration, real estate, call centres) showed a decline of 14% and 24% respectively.

‘‘When we experience a difficult economic outlook, businesses tend to hold off recruiting these sorts of roles and less international tourism has had a significant impact,’’ Mr Faulding said.

‘‘While job ad levels traditionally tail off in December . . . we anticipate activity to pick back up again after the school holidays as we have seen in previous years,’’ he said.