Job ads are on the increase according to employment site Seek, up 26.7% over the past year with a 7.3% leap in October.
This ties in with the Household Labour Force Survey results last week showing unemployment falling 6.4% in the September quarter, at least for men.
Seek senior executive Helen Souness said the October increase was an indication that the employment was following an overall pattern of steady growth.
Canterbury led the spike in job ads, which was up 12% in October.
“This surge in growth can in part be attributed to the impact of reconstruction in the Canterbury area following the earthquake as both labour and materials have been required to complete the massive task,” she said.
Ms Souness added that advertised vacancies in the trades and services sector were up 57% on the same period last year.
In addition, a nationwide surge in demand for professionals in the IT sector was noted – up 74% on the same period last year – pegged to companies searching for consultants and programme managers to roll out upgrade projects delayed by the recession.
Seek’s employment index – the ratio of new job ads placed on the site against the number of applications – was up 8%.
“This growth in the [index] is the highest increase we have seen since the start of the year and this has been driven by an increase in the demand for labour and a drop in the number of applications per job, which is a clear indicator of improving labour market conditions,” Ms Souness said.
The most competitive occupations on the website were call centre operators, IT support, sales assistants and receptionists.
The most sought-after employees were in IT, structural engineering, accounting, health management and government.
Liam Baldwin
Mon, 08 Nov 2010