The survey, which measures hiring intentions for the coming quarter, shows 25 percent of New Zealand employers expect to increase employee numbers, while only seven percent plan to decrease. Over two-thirds of employers indicated no plans to rethink their hiring patterns.
Hiring intentions are holding firm over here with employers reporting net employment outlook of +17 percent.
This is pretty strong in comparison to other countries:
• The Aussie market has steadied +13 percent;
• The US outlook index rose 1 percentage point from the first quarter of this year to +10 percent; and
• The UK showed little sign of recovery, rising 2 percentage points from the previous quarter to +2 percent.
The Kiwi outlook sector-by-sector:
• In the finance, insurance and real estate sector employers have got considerably more bounce in their step. The first-quarter forecast had been disappointing. Now the Net Employment Outlook (NEO) has rebounded 26 percentage points to +19 percent, or eight percentage points stronger than this time last year.
• Ditto good news for people looking for work in transport and utilities. These employers reported the strongest outlook of all the industry sectors.
• Employers in the mining and construction sector anticipate strong growth over the next three months, with the NEO improving seven percentage points quarter-over-quarter to +16 percent.
• Employer hiring intentions in the public administration and education sector were also considerably stronger, rising 12 percentage points quarter-over-quarter to +17 percent.
• But the hiring pace in the manufacturing sector is expected to decline moderately from the previous quarter and the same period last year and now stands at +7 percent.
Employers in Christchurch reported stand-out NEO, up 11 percentage points since the same time last year to +28 percent – confirming the city’s position as New Zealand’s strongest employment market.
As the rebuild in Christchurch gains momentum, strong jobs growth is forecast for the Canterbury region. An estimated additional 36,000 workers may be required by the time of peak reconstruction.
