NZ’S most popular jobs
Survey: Early childhood education among attractive industries
New research by a major recruitment agency has revealed the most soughtafter jobs in the country. Early childhood education is the most attractive industry sector to work in, followed by tertiary education and central government, according to Randstad’s 2022 Employer Brand Research, which surveyed 4276 people.
Employers continue to wage a war for talent — one employer is offering a $4000 sign-on bonus for a hard-tofill role and other bosses are tailoring packages to combat rising inflation.
Randstad New Zealand country director Richard Kennedy said early childhood continued to perform well in terms of desirability.
“It provides flexibility, making particularly attractive to parents balancing work with family commitments.”
He said work-life balance remained the most important priority for jobseekers when it came to choosing where to work, followed by salary and benefits.
“People are reassessing what’s important to them, whether that be achieving greater worklife balance, securing their next career move, an overseas experience or promotion.”
Regardless, there continued to be more roles than candidates, especially in high-demand industries like education, IT, healthcare, construction, the public sector and hospitality.
Commenting on the survey’s findings, early childhood Evolve Education Group NZ general manager of people and talent Bev Davies said the company focused on supporting staff.
The company had more than 100 early childhood centres nationwide, including Tauranga and Rotorua.
“It is important to us to consider what we can do to support our teams, especially during very challenging circumstances — and then deliver on this.”
Evolve had numerous roles advertised on its website.
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology executive director of student and staff experience Patrick Brus said tertiary education was rewarding as it focused on student and community success.
“When people achieve their education goals it is not only beneficial to them but the whole community. Tertiary and vocational education is about helping our people and our communities succeed.”
Benefits for staff included flexible working options, EAP services, wellness days and initiatives, and professional development opportunities. On campus, there were cafes, gyms, salons and barbershops and automotive centres.
Toi Ohomai had 12 positions advertised and roles varied from academic teaching to student support, research, and IT.
Ryan and Alexander Recruitment Agency director Kiri Burney said the market was busy across all industries with a slight slow down in construction.
Engineers, surveyors, ICT, scientists, qualified accountants and contact centre staff were the hardest jobs to fill while part-time roles were sought after.
More people were also looking to cut costs by working from home to gain time and save on fuel and parking, Burney said. Some employers were upping the ante with their packages to combat rising inflation.
“Clients are getting creative with some roles commanding sign-on bonuses, short-term or longterm financial incentives, an extra week’s annual leave and some looking at fuel cards and so on with the increased cost of living.”
Burney said employers should not
be afraid to think outside the box and consider all ideas when it came to attracting staff.
Alexander Tidy from Drake NZ said many people were looking for part-time jobs, including working nights and weekends to secure extra income to combat the rise in the cost of living.
“Companies are moving faster to employ people to avoid missing out on great candidates. Jobs we are finding hardest to fill are those offering minimum wage. With a low supply of staff and high demand for labour, companies who pay more will attract the talent.”
Tidy said some job benefits