The Hays’ findings seem to be confirmed by a 2.5 percent growth in the number of skilled jobs advertised online in June 2014. The figures were released last week by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s latest Jobs Online report.
The growth is apparently driven by a bounce-back of skilled vacancies in most industry groups and in all occupation groups. The biggest month-on-month increases were in the construction and engineering industry (up 7.4 per cent) and in managerial occupations (up 2.4 per cent).
The Auckland region leads with a 2.9 per cent increase. Figures for the South Island – excluding Canterbury – were up 1.8 per cent.
MBIE’s Labour Market and Business Performance Manager David Paterson says the figures are consistent with the latest results from the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion showing positive hiring intentions of firms and expansion of business activities in all regions.
“Despite the monthly fluctuations, we can see a healthy trend in vacancies over the past year, across all regions and most industries,” he says.
Over the year to June, skilled vacancies increased by 16.5 per cent, and all vacancies by 17.2 per cent. The biggest yearly growth in skilled vacancies was in construction and engineering (up 40.2 per cent) and hospitality and tourism industries (up 27.6 per cent). The healthcare and medical industry had the only decrease over the year to June, going down by 10.7 per cent.
