Here's where most New Zealanders are working

Monday, 23 March 2020

Fletcher Building is New Zealand's biggest employer.

From agriculture and forestry in the great outdoors to IT and call centre staff in office blocks, Kiwis work in a wide range of different jobs.

The 2018 census revealed the food trade employs the largest number of New Zealanders, followed by supermarkets and grocery stores.

According to the last census, sales assistants have the most common job in New Zealand. They make up about 4.4 per cent of the workforce, just ahead of office managers, who represent 2.7 per cent of Kiwi workers, according to Stats NZ.

Only a select group of organisations employ more than 10,000 people in New Zealand, excluding large public sector employers such as the Police and Defence Force. But who are New Zealand's biggest employers?

* The Warehouse founder Sir Stephen Tindall inspired by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' philanthropy

* Kmart takes the fight to The Warehouse in the regions**

Using publicly-available data compiled by research firm Katalyst Business, Stuff has taken a look at the five largest private-sector employers in New Zealand.

Katalyst's rankings do not include Foodstuffs, (which claims to employ 30,000 people), as Foodstuff employees are split across a series of cooperatives, subsidiaries, and stores.

Fletcher Building - 18,600 employees

New Zealand's biggest employer Fletcher Building traces its roots to the early 20th century.

The Warehouse Group employs 12,000 people.

James Fletcher and his siblings started up Fletcher Bros in 1915, which went on to play a central role in the nation's construction and development from the 1920s onwards.

Fletcher employs 18,600 people according to Katalyst, making it the largest private or public sector employer in the nation, ahead of the Police and Defence Force.

The building giant is listed on the NZX and Australian Stock Exchanges but has been through turbulent times over the past few years, with shares falling from more than $11 before the GFC to just over $3.40 today.

Air New Zealand has unveiled a new sleeping pod for Economy.

Working in a labour-intensive sector, Fletcher employs more people than anyone else in Aotearoa. The builder employs construction workers, from estimators, quantity surveyors, depot managers, drivers and loaders at sites across the country.

Woolworths New Zealand - 18,500 employees

Formerly known as Progressive Enterprises, supermarket giant Woolworths New Zealand owns 183 Countdown supermarkets. The nation's biggest chain by a distance, the group also operates the Fresh Choice and Super Value brands here.

Woolworths NZ is a subsidiary of Aussie titan Woolworths Group. The ASX-listed company has nearly 1000 stores across Australia. Woolworths shares are owned by investment funds, including top-five shareholders Blackrock and Vanguard.

Woolworths NZ employs sales assistants, store managers, IT, marketing, and head office staff in New Zealand. Its shares are worth A$38 as of March 4, up from A$29 a year ago.

Fonterra Co-Operative Group - 16,000 employees

New Zealand's biggest farming co-operative employs 16,000 people. The company is synonymous with our farming sector and closely tied to the fortunes of our economy and export output.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says the rules covering the dairy industry need to be changed to allow a level playing field covering all companies.

Fonterra, the nation's third-biggest private-sector employer, has suffered in recent years. The company posted a loss of $605 million in the 2019 financial year, after a $203m write-down on its China Farms investment, and taking an impairment of $237m on its New Zealand food service division.

After posting the record loss, the company pledged to make job cuts. The highly-indebted company is likely to post a smaller employee number the next time it records its financial results, as it shrinks its international footprint. Fonterra is set to be hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak as it relies heavily on demand from China.

The Warehouse Group - 12,000 employees

Another retailer lands in the top five. Unlike Woolworths, The Warehouse is very much a homegrown success story. The group, which employs 12,000 people, was set up by Sir Stephen Tindall, who opened the first red shed in Auckland's North Shore in 1982.

The Warehouse has more than 90 stores across New Zealand, and the Warehouse Group has several other brands, including Torpedo 7 and Noel Leeming. With Warehouse Stationery, daily deals site 1 Day, and new e-commerce site The Market, the group is still growing.

Overall, the Warehouse Group has more than 260 retail stores. Careers at the group range from sales assistants and managers to marketing, distribution and logistics specialists. The company is listed on the NZX, but Tindall and family own a controlling 48.4 per cent stake.

Air New Zealand and Kmart - 11,000 employees

Our national flag carrier and another retailer are tied in fifth place.

Air New Zealand is a national institution, with most Kiwis having a (love or hate) relationship with the country's dominant airline. Between cabin crew, cargo workers, pilots, airport workers and corporate staff, the airline employs roughly 11,000 people, according to Katalyst.

The government owns a 52 per cent stake in Air New Zealand, though the business is run like a private company, with remaining shares listed on the NZX. Like the other companies on this list, the airline is braced for the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak - that staff number is set to drop by 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, discount retailer Kmart has the same number of New Zealand staff as Air New Zealand, comprising retail assistants, department managers, regional managers, and operations staff.

Kmart New Zealand is owned by Aussie retail powerhouse Wesfarmers, which also owns Target and Bunnings. Kmart in Australia and New Zealand no longer have an affiliation with the American Kmart business.