Employment marketplace SEEK reported a 4% increase in job advertisement volumes in January, marking the largest month-on-month growth since July 2024. This rise was primarily driven by growth in New Zealand’s largest regions and across most industries.
Job advertisement volumes were 17% lower compared to the same period last year. However, SEEK noted that the pace of decline observed over the past four years has eased in the last six months.
“After six months of consistently falling job ads in the early half of 2024, the rate of decline in the past six months has slowed. While it was pleasing to see growth in January, it is a bit too early to say that volumes have stabilised,” SEEK Country Manager Rob Clark said.
According to Clark, “There have been smaller fluctuations month-on-month during the past half-year and pockets of broad growth in some of the larger regions in recent months.”
In Otago, rising demand for workers in the hospitality and tourism sectors has fuelled growth over the recent months. Job advertisements in the region increased by 8% in January.
The most notable increases in job advertisement volumes in January occurred in the regions of Tasman, which saw an 18% rise, and Marlborough, which experienced a 12% increase.
SEEK reported that the increase in job advertisement volumes in January was primarily driven by growing demand for public sector roles, particularly in education and training (up 18%), government and defence (up 9%), and healthcare and medical positions (up 5%).
The only industries that did not experience growth in the said period were legal services (down 17%), insurance and superannuation (down 16%), and accounting (down 3%).