New Zealand’s job market ended the last quarter of 2024 with record salaries, fewer listings and stiff competition among prospective employees, according to Trade Me.
The company’s Head of Jobs Nicole Williams says in a statement that Aotearoa produced another record average salary in 2024’s final quarter ending 31 December, at $73,332, up 1.3 per cent year-on-year.
Trade Me says record salaries for the quarter were in recorded in Auckland ($76,015), Bay of Plenty ($72,688), Canterbury ($72,125), Gisborne ($73,997), Manawatū-Whanganui ($70,032), Northland ($71,652), Otago ($73,371), Southland ($72,623), Taranaki ($70,832) and the Waikato ($73,388).
Regions with the biggest average pay increase from the previous July-September quarter were the West Coast (+3.8%), Gisborne (+3%) and Waikato (+2.5%).
“The number of people applying for vacant roles has steadily increased with average applications per listing up 20 percent year-on-year…”
The company says the number of people applying for vacant roles has steadily increased with average applications per listing up 20 percent year-on-year.
Williams says it’s positive to see Kiwi employers offering competitive salaries to keep pace with inflation and remain attractive.
“Wellington has been knocked off the top spot as the highest paying region by Auckland with a salary of $76,015 in the final quarter of last year, nearly $850 ahead of the Capital’s $75,168. Sitting in third place is the West Coast at $75,069.
She says the West Coast “could be considered an unexpected addition to the top three especially given it’s one of our smaller markets. However, we do see a number of highly-paid roles in the region and good salary growth quarter-on-quarter”.
Industries with the largest quarter on quarter average pay increase were architecture (+7%), IT (+5.6%) and property (+5.3%).
Pay and applications up, but where are the jobs?
Trade Me says the total number of job listings fell by 35 percent compared to the previous year and 17.2 percent on the July-September quarter with declines across all regions.
“The quarterly drop we can attribute in part to seasonality, with a slowdown in the labour market as a result of the holiday season. However, some of the other numbers we see are stark reminders that the job market environment continues to be tough going for job seekers,” says Williams.
This drop in listings was significantly impacted by both Auckland and Wellington where listings were down 45.8 and 42.8 percent respectively (year-on-year).
Regions that saw the smallest decline in job listings were the West Coast, down 17.8 percent and Taranaki, where job listings fell 19.7 per cent.
Williams says there’s “no doubt the current job environment will continue to create uncertainty which impacts both job seekers and prospective employers, who may be hesitant to hire new staff or even fill an existing vacancy – this is something we hear time and again.
“We continue to keep a close eye on key economic indicators and have seen movement in both the Official Cash Rate and in interest rates which should help restore business confidence that a recovery is coming.”
More applications
Total job applications remain high, both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.
Williams says applications per listing are up just over 20 percent on the same period last year and 0.4 percent on the prior quarter with an average of 33 applications per listing.
Auckland remained the region with the most competition, with an average of 49 applications per listing followed by Canterbury with 33 applications per listing.
The region with the least job hunter supply was Otago with an average of 15.6 applications per listing, followed by Marlborough (20.5) and Gisborne (20.6). Industries with highest were retail (55.7), customer service (54.1) and hospitality and tourism (43.7)
The company says that despite still being one of the most in-demand industries, hospitality and tourism was one of the few industries that saw a quarterly decline in applications per listing of 11.9 percent, primarily driven by a 22.2 percent decline in chef applications per listing.
