Rob
Clark, SEEK NZ Country Manager says
“After a
notable rise in January worker demand readjusted in February
and fell 2%.
“The month-on-month data can be
a little bit noisy, and we are seeing some bounce among
industries. For example, in the Call Centre & Customer
Service industry, demand dropped 17% after jumping 35% in
January – in this climate it is better to take a
longer-term view of the numbers.
“After two
years of steady and significant decline in job ad volumes,
the past eight months have been broadly flat. While we may
not be out of the woods yet, the days of significant,
broad-based drops in worker demand should be behind
us.
“For job seekers, we know that the start
of the year is a peak time to jump back into the job hunt
and the data shows it did, with a 5% rise in applications
per job ad, coinciding with a rise in ad volumes in
January.”
National Trends
After rising
4% m/m in January, job ads declined 2% in February, and have
recorded no change q/q.
Since July last year, ads have
remained relatively stable, aside from some noise
month-to-month. This has been the most prolonged period of
relative stability since pre-COVID.
Ad volumes
declined across metro and regional areas, but to a larger
extent in the regions, down 2.5% m/m, compared to 1.5% in
the urban centres.
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Applications per job ad jumped 5%
m/m in January*, a new peak for application levels. In a
month where job ads also rose significantly, this is
evidence of significant candidate interest as workers head
into the new year.
*Applications per job ad are
recorded with a one-month lag. Data shown in this report
refers to January data.
Figure 1: National SEEK job
ad percentage change m/m (February 2024 to February
2025)
SEEK NZ
Table 1: National
and regional job ad growth/decline comparing February 2025
to: i) January 2025 (m/m) and ii) February 2024
(y/y)
SEEK NZ
Region Trends
Most
regions recorded a m/m decline in February. The largest
decline m/m was in Tasman (-9%), followed by Otago (-7%) and
Marlborough (-7%).
Despite the 7% drop in demand in
February, ad volumes in Otago remain elevated q/q due to
significant rises in December and January.
Four
regions bucked the declining monthly trend in February, led
by West Coast (6%), Canterbury (3%), Southland (2%) and Bay
of Plenty (1%).
Applications per job ad rose again in
the largest regions of Auckland (6%), Canterbury (4%),
Wellington (2%) and Waikato (1%), among
others.
Figure 2: National SEEK job ad percentage
change by major region – February 2021 to February
2025.
SEEK NZ
Figure 3: National SEEK job
ad percentage change by region (February 2025 vs January
2025)
SEEK NZ
Industry
Trends
Demand stalled in the largest hiring
industries in February, but it was a 15% decline in ad
volumes in Call Centre & Customer Service roles that led
the overall decline.
Trades & Services and
Manufacturing Transport & Logistics, the two largest
industries, declined 4% m/m and were also major contributors
to the fall in ad volumes in February. For Manufacturing
Transport & Logistics, which has seen growing demand m/m
since November, ad volumes remain 7% higher
q/q.
Taking a broader quarterly view, infrastructure
and service-related roles are driving job ad growth for the
country, while Professional Services have recorded next to
no change for the past six months and the Public Sector has
declined 7%.
Applications per job ad increased 18% m/m
for Hospitality & Tourism roles, 15% for Engineering and
Community Services &Development roles and 11% for
Accounting roles, among others.
Figure 5:
National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (February
2025 vs January 2025) – Ordered by job ad
volume
SEEK NZ
About SEEK
NZ
SEEK has been helping New Zealanders live
more fulfilling and productive working lives since
1999.
SEEK is a market leader in online employment
marketplaces that span eight countries across Asia Pacific.
SEEK makes a positive contribution to people’s lives on a
global scale.
About the SEEK New Zealand
Employment Report
The SEEK Employment Report
provides a comprehensive overview of the New Zealand
employment marketplace. The report includes the SEEK New Job
Ad Index, which measures only new job ads posted within the
reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for
labour across all classifications. SEEK’s total job ad
volume (not disclosed in this report) includes duplicated
job advertisements and refreshed job ads. As a result, the
SEEK New Job Ad Index does not always match the movement in
SEEK’s total job ad
volume.
