Which industry saw the highest jump in job ads in July?

Statistics show more employers are on the hunt for top talent

Which industry saw the highest jump in job ads in July?

The Consulting and Strategy industry reported the highest monthly increase in job advertisements in July, according to a new report, reflecting the industry's high demand for workers.

Job ads for the Consulting and Strategy industry went up by 17% in July, which is more than double the increase when compared to the second-placing Community and Services Development industry, revealed a new report from SEEK New Zealand.

According to the report, the industry had a six per cent monthly increase in job ads, followed by the Mining Resources and Energy industry which saw a four-per-cent increase.

On the other hand, the industries of Hospitality and Tourism as well as Retail and Consumer Products reported a decrease in job ads by nine per cent and six per cent, respectively. The Advertising, Arts, and Media industry reported the highest monthly decrease of 14%, while the Design and Architecture industry recorded a decrease of 10%. 

SEEK NZ country manager Rob Clark attributed this drop to the rising cost of living and doing business.

"As the cost of living and doing business rises, Kiwis' discretionary income is falling, which has a flow-on effect for customer-facing industries," said Clark in a statement. "Demand for talents in Hospitality & Tourism and Retail & Consumer Products have both declined over the past two months after peaking in May, demonstrating the impact that these macro-factors are having on some industries."

Read more: NZ maintains number of job ads in February

Overall, the number of job advertisements across New Zealand increased by one per cent in July and is now nine per cent higher year-on-year.

"Jobs ads across all regions are up year-on-year, and the increase recorded nationally was driven by increases in Auckland which grew one per cent and Canterbury which rose four per cent," said Clark. "Applications per job ad are almost on par with where they were last year after a second month-on-month increase."

Despite this spike, the official said that application levels relatively "remained low" despite increasing by five per cent in July. 

"While application levels remain low compared to pre-pandemic, they are no longer declining, and have remained relatively stable since the start of the year," he pointed out.