Source: Radio New Zealand
Seek country manager Rob Clark says ad numbers are still around historical highs. RNZ
Seek says there was a little improvement in the job market in April, but it’s still easier to be hiring than applying, and conflict in the Middle East has thrown a “spanner in the works”.
The recruitment site said job ads were up 0.8 percent month-on-month and 13.1 percent year-on-year, and applications per ad were down 1.6 percent.
Seek country manager Rob Clark said ad numbers were still around historical highs.
“It’s from being a lot easier for people to find employment. It’s slowly getting better but it’s still very much an employer’s market overall.”
Auckland recorded month-on-month job ad growth of 1.6 percent. Otago had the biggest lift, up 3.4 percent.
“We saw some good movements in areas like Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Otago, and I think that’s in part due to the fact there was a wine harvest around April,” Clark said.
“Bay of Plenty was quite strong, kiwifruit may have had something to do with that.”
Construction had some of the largest increases, with ads up 2.5 percent month-on-month and 44.8 percent year-on-year. Information and communication technology was up 1.3 percent in the month and 13 percent over the year.
Clark said the growth in April was in line with the last eight or nine months.
“We’re obviously pretty mindful that things like consumer confidence and business confidence have started to drop a bit in light of what’s happening in the Middle East and that might put a bit more caution on organisations hiring staff.
“We’re looking ahead with some caution for the time being but the start of 2026 has been pretty strong. We finally turned a corner and there was more optimism but there’s been a spanner thrown in the works recently.”
He said some sectors were more resilient than others.
“If you think of teaching roles, roles in health in particular, there are always areas which are generally short on supply of talent. If you take some of the more highly qualified engineering roles, they’re always in demand.”
References to AI skills in job ads were up 4.1 percent month-on-month, although AI references only appear in 2.9 percent of total job ads.
“On a longer-term basis the industrial sectors, roles in construction, trades, logistics, they’re growing well, having been through a tough time. ICT and engineering are having quite a nice run. The ag sector is seeing some really strong growth.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/spanner-in-the-works-for-job-market/