9 Apr 2018

Job growth dwindles in big cities

4:33 pm on 9 April 2018

TradeMe's latest quarterly jobs analysis suggests that while it's still a job-hunter's market, things may be levelling off.

Magnifying glass on job ads.

Photo: 123RF

Listings on the online marketplace rose by a marginal 0.4 percent with more than 66,000 vacancies - but that's a far cry from the double-digit increases seen last year.

Growth was highest in the regions, with Taranaki, the Bay of Plenty, Marlborough, Nelson/Tasman and Southland all recording double digit increases, but things slowed up in the country's two biggest cities.

Auckland and Wellington saw listings decrease by 5.4 and 9.4 percent respectively.

TradeMe's head of jobs, Jeremy Wade, put down to uncertainty in the roading and construction areas, which saw a 3.5 percent reduction in listings year-on-year.

"What our recruiters and employers are telling us is that uncertainty in regards to infrastructure projects and investment decisions is having an impact on their likelihood to replace people."

"As well as that we've had some uncertainty with Fletcher Building, and that has had a ripple effect throughout the industry as well."

However it wasn't all bad news for the capital - Wellington's average wage nudged over $70,000 for the first time, rising 4 percent to $70,307.

That brought the city within touching distance of Auckland as the best-remunerated city in the country on average, with the City of Sails just ahead on $72,509.

Mr Wade said tight contests for top-tier talent were pushing up wages in some industries.

The average wage in banking and finance grew 11.6 per cent on last year, with the number of applications down 12.6 percent.

Marketing, media and communications saw the average wage climb 8.7 per cent with applications down almost 40 per cent, and the government and council sector experienced an 8.3 per cent jump in average wage following a 22.8 per cent dip in applications.

"There is a real shortfall of candidates - applications for listings were down 13 percent year-on-year, so for those who do tick the boxes there's a better chance than there has been to get the right job.

Meanwhile, information technology experts tightened their stranglehold on the top-earning jobs.

All of the five best-paid jobs were in this sector, with IT project managers earning the most on average at a touch over $146,000, followed by IT architects on $145,063.

IT managers, business intelligence experts and systems analysts rounded out the top five, with all earning between $120,000 and 130,000.

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