NOTE:
This report includes the seasonally adjusted data as well as
the trend data. Where not otherwise specified, the
commentary, figures and tables in this report refer to the
seasonally adjusted data. See notes 2 and 3 on p. 7 for more
information about the difference between the two data
sets.
*Applications per job ad are recorded with a
one-month lag. Data shown in this report refers to March
data
National Insights:
- Job ads rose 1%
m/m, marking the fourth month of growth this
year. - The annual rate of decline is at its lowest
since December 2022.
Region
Insights:
- Solid growth in some of the larger
regions such as Auckland (3%) and Waikato (4%) drove the
national increase in ad volume m/m. - Otago (1%) and
Tasman (4%) are among a handful of the regions that have
recorded y/y job ad growth.
Industry
Insights:
- A 10% jump in demand for Retail &
Consumer Products workers made it a standout growth industry
in April. - Information & Communication Technology
ad volumes have grown 7% m/m and y/y.
Rob
Clark, SEEK NZ Country Manager says
“It is
encouraging to see a second month of positive momentum,
suggesting a modest but notable recovery pattern over the
past seven or so months.
“There has been
welcome growth in some high-skilled industries of late,
including a 15% jump in Design & Architecture and a 7%
boost to Information & Communications Technology in
April, on top of longer-term growth, pointing to returning
business confidence in some skilled
sectors.
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“While we remain cautiously optimistic
about these signs of improvement, we know that businesses
are still navigating economic uncertainty, as reflected in
the ongoing year-on-year decline. However, the recent trend
suggests we may be at a stabilising point in the employment
market.”
National Trends
Job ads grew 1%
for a second month, marking the first consecutive months of
growth in almost two years.
Ad volumes are now down
10% y/y. This is the slowest rate of decline since late 2022
and demonstrates a stabilisation, particularly over the past
seven months, after close to two years of steady
decline.
Applications per job ad dropped 3% from the
month prior – the first decline since November – likely
in reaction to the increased ad volume in the
market.
Figure 1: National SEEK job ad change
over time – April 2021 to April 2025. Index = 100 (2013
average)
Figure
2: National SEEK job ad percentage change m/m (April 2024 to
April 2025)
Region
Trends
Manawatu recorded the largest rise in job ads
m/m, jumping 10% from March. This is the most significant
increase for the region since mid-2024.
Auckland (3%),
Waikato (4%) and Otago (5%) also recorded robust job ad
growth m/m, and were the biggest contributors to the
national increase in ad volumes m/m. After both rose in
March, Wellington & Canterbury remained steady in
April.
Applications per job ad decreased in most
regions m/m, with the most significant drops in Marlborough
(-13%), Northland (-12%) and Canterbury (-11%). Manawatu was
the only region where applications per ad increased m/m
(3%).
Table 1: National and regional job ad
growth/decline: i) m/m and ii) y/y
Figure
3: National SEEK job ad change by major region – April 2021
to April 2025
Figure
4: National SEEK job ad percentage change by region (April
2025 vs March 2025)
Industry
Trends
There was broad-based growth in April, with 21
out of 28 industries recording m/m increases in ad volume.
Consumer-facing sectors like Retail & Consumer Products
(10%) and Sales (8%) showed particularly strong
momentum.
Information & Communication Technology
jumped 7% m/m and is now 7% higher y/y. There has been
fairly consistent growth in this industry since November,
albeit from a very low base after two years of significant
decline.
Healthcare & Medical was among the
industries to decline m/m (-3%) and has experienced some of
the largest decline annually (-20%), behind only Engineering
(-25% y/y) and Insurance and Superannuation (-25%
y/y).
Figure 5: National SEEK Job Ad
percentage change by industry (April 2025 vs March 2025) –
Ordered by job ad volume
