Wellingtonians more upbeat on job prospects
WELLINGTONIANS are becoming more optimistic about their employment prospects, according to a new survey, as businesses get more confident about hiring.
The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index rose 2.6 per cent in Wellington for the June 2013 quarter, reflecting a gradual growth in household employment confidence, but with levels still well below prerecession figures.
‘‘The survey doesn’t suggest the labour market is off to the races,’’ Westpac senior economist Felix Delbruck said.
‘‘A slow uphill climb is a better characterisation. Expectations for job opportunities during the coming year have improved significantly, but remain cautious.’’
Annabel McCallum, a director at recruitment consultants JacksonStone & Partners, said the positivity among households was grounded in reality.
‘‘We are seeing growth. Not a step change, but positive incremental growth in the market.’’
Employers in the public and private sector were becoming more confident about hiring decisions, especially for permanent roles, she said.
‘‘We are really seeing businesses starting to talk about hiring more staff and that’s translating into activity.’’
Paul Newson owns Newtownbased screen-printing company Brazen Clothing, which has 11 fulltime staff and is now recruiting more employees.
He said the company was beginning to feel confident about offering permanent positions to new staff.
‘‘In previous years, a few of our staff would come in knowing their jobs would not carry over winter and now we’re in a place where we can offer them more stable positions.’’
He said there were signs of gradual improvement and after more than six months of positivity, he was looking to invest and expand carefully.
The 17-year-old company had been reasonably lucky through the recession, Newson said, but its effects could still be felt on their Raewyn Bleakley, Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive ability to hire and retain staff.
Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive Raewyn Bleakley said that surveys were reflecting early signs of increasing employer confidence.
‘‘We have received indicators from businesses that they are wanting to take on more staff, Bleakley said. ‘‘It looks like the worst of downturn is over; it’s great to see the confidence returning.’’
However, she said Wellington was still not a top performer and more work had to be done to ensure it was perceived as a business-friendly city.
‘‘Recent government infrastructure projects like . . . Transmission Gully and Memorial Park are really helping job growth, but that work has to really continue.’’
A report from recruiting company Hudson last month said Wellington’s IT industry had been the standout performer in terms of employment expectations, with 63.6 per cent of local IT employers planning to increase headcount.
The report also found that 12 per cent of government departments were planning to reduce their staff numbers.
The survey is conducted quarterly by Westpac and McDermott Miller and asks a random sample of households nationwide to answer five questions about their confidence in the job market.
This quarter’s results saw a de- cline in confidence in Auckland and Canterbury, but Waikato and Dunedin saw 17.9 per cent and 13.3 per cent increases respectively.