Capital salaries drop as public service cuts bite
Wellington is feeling the chill wind of public sector job cuts, with falling salaries and fewer jobs available, according to Trade Me Jobs’ latest report
However, the upside for the capital’s businesses is a deeper pool of talented people for hire.
Kris Gustofson of Sweet Release vegan cafe in central Wellington said they noticed a high number of applicants for a hospitality role they had recently advertised. “They’re a really good calibre. “We’ve had lots of people who knew their businesses were closing down and they wanted to find a job immediately before it closed down.”
Gustofson said the competition for places was quite fierce in the current labour market and many people on working holidays were finding it harder to get work.
Trade Me job listings for roles in central government were down 77% year-on-year and 34% for the quarter.
Trade Me’s Matt Tolich said Wellington also had the biggest drop in overall listings year-on-year, although the city experienced an 8% rebound for the quarter.
The number of job applications in Wellington also reflected the higher number of people searching for jobs, up 18% compared to the previous quarter. For comparison, Auckland experienced a 15% increase in applications over the same period.
The capital’s average salary was down over 3% on the previous quarter to $72,062 – the biggest percentage drop across all New Zealand regions.
Despite the challenging economic conditions, many businesses were continuing to recruit new staff, Tolich said.
The number of job listings across New Zealand rose in the beginning of the year from January through to March, up 12% compared to the previous quarter, with applications also up across the board.
“This increase in listings shows that employers are still looking for talent despite softening economic conditions. Companies are hiring although we know from our recruitment partners it’s just taking them longer to make the decision to hire.”
While listings were significantly down on the previous year, the first quarter of the year had shown an uptick.
Tolich said the biggest increases in listings were in agriculture; office and administration; and hospitality and tourism sectors.
The number of people hunting for jobs more than equalled the quarterly growth in listings. Total job applications were up 15% across the country compared with the previous quarter. “We know of a couple of factors that are influencing the increased application numbers, including increased levels of migration, with the population increasing by the equivalent of a Dunedin last year.
“Also some organisations are downsizing due to the current economic climate which means there are more available candidates.”