Over the last 12 months 45 percent of New Zealand employers increased permanent staff levels and 46 percent expect to do so in the year ahead, according to the 2015 Hays Salary Guide.
As revealed in the guide, 74 percent of the 451 New Zealand employers surveyed, representing 374,007 employees, said business activity had increased in the past 12 months, and 76 percent expect it to increase in the year ahead.
In addition, 60 percent say the New Zealand economy will strengthen in the coming six to 12 months, Hays says in a statement.
According to Hays, this positive general outlook explains why more people are in work.
Of those employers expecting staff levels to increase, an overwhelming 90 percent will hire full time permanent staff. 29 percent will increase their use of temporaries and contractors, 17 percent will employ part time staff, and 15 percent will employ casual staff.
Given positive hiring plans, it is unsurprising that 25 percent of employers have seen turnover increase.
“New Zealand’s strong domestic economy, a growing number of residential and infrastructure projects, the next phase of the Christchurch rebuild and the expansion of sales teams to increase revenue are fuelling a resilient recruitment market,” says Jason Walker, managing director of Hays in New Zealand.
“For example, an unprecedented residential and infrastructure workload is expected in the next few years driven by three major factors – the Canterbury rebuild, commercial demand in Auckland, and increased investment in infrastructure. An acute shortage of candidates is already being felt and it shows no signs of easing.
“As a result, construction professionals, architects, sales and leasing agents, property managers, facilities managers, structural engineers, geotechnical engineers, solicitors with general commercial and commercial property skills and employee relations and industrial relations experts are all in demand.
“For the next phase of the Christchurch rebuild, we’re seeing demand for engineers. While the Christchurch market for engineers is still focused on residential insurance work, the outer CBD is taking shape with commercial, residential, hospitality and industrial projects now in the construction and design completion stages. Architects too are sought as large anchor projects get underway.
“And the expansion of sales teams to increase revenue has led to a surge in demand for salespeople and account managers. This trend is also creating demand in contact centres for customer service and sales staff, BAS seniors and managers in accounting firms and credit controllers and accounts clerks in commercial organisations.
“In other interesting trends, we’re seeing demand for people who can spot opportunities for productivity and performance improvements, as well as those with digital expertise to help businesses embrace emerging technology,” he said.
The Hays Salary Guide includes salary and recruiting trends for over 1,000 roles in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.
Get your copy of the 2015 Hays Salary Guide by visiting hays.net.nz/salary-guide.
