‘More balanced employment market’ forecast for 2023

New data released by employment website Seek suggests that the job market is moving in a positive direction for organisations looking to fill roles.

Visitation to the website increased in January and applications per job ad almost doubled with a 97% increase year-on-year, suggesting that candidate interest continues to grow.

“Compared to January last year, when we were moving toward record-level demand for workers, we are seeing a much more balanced employment market, with strong job ads and candidate activity,” said Seek NZ’s country manager, Rob Clark.

Will 2023 see a softening of the talent shortage for organisations?

2023 looks to be another year of uncertainty, according to Frog Recruitment managing director Shannon Barlow, citing a recent CEO survey by PwC.

“Business confidence has dropped, with only a third of business leaders predicting revenue growth over the next twelve months,” she said.

“There is still a shortage of skilled talent in the market. Clients are now faced with the dilemma of reviewing their ‘must-haves’, rescoping their roles, or training and upskilling existing staff.”

Recruitment trends

Barlow said they had seen a few other interesting trends in recruitment.

“Permanent vacancies are down slightly and, as is often the case, we are seeing the number of contingent roles increase, including fixed-term contracts,” she said.

 We have also found that candidates appear reluctant to leave their positions due to the uncertainty surrounding a new job - last in first out - even if approached by employers or their agents.”

Key findings from the Seek’s January 2023 Employment report:

• Job ads rose for the first time in five months, increasing 2% from December.
• Applications per job ad grew 19% from the month prior, are 97% higher year-on-year (y/y) and are now 14% higher than December 2019.

• Job ad levels in the largest regions grew month-on-month (m/m) including Auckland (4%), Wellington (4%) and Canterbury (4%).
• Applications per job ad rose in all region’s m/m, except West Coast, where there was no change.

• Increases in ads for Hospitality & Tourism (13%) and accounting roles (13%) drove the overall rise in job ads in January.
• Applications per job ad increased in all but three industries, with notable growth in Manufacturing Transport & Logistics (41%) and Hospitality & Tourism (36%).

Immigration solutions

This week, a report into the labour market commissioned by Business NZ concluded that labour is the biggest constraint to economic growth, and by 2048, New Zealand will be 250,000 workers short.

Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope told Radio NZ that stable immigration policies were needed as similar countries were also looking at how to deal with their changing demographics and drawing in more overseas workers.

“Without stable, long-term policy planning in the immigration space, we will be some quarter-of-a-million workers short by 2048," Hope said.

“Skilled talent is still unable to enter the country fast enough to fill current vacancies, creating the current deficit,” said Barlow. “Net migration is still at a loss, down 4.76% from 2022, intensifying the skills shortage post-COVID as Kiwis travel overseas en masse.”