Covid-19: The six-figure jobs construction, IT sectors are struggling to fill

Tuesday, 29 September 2020

Some people who lost jobs during the Covid-19 lockdown haven't found themselves out of work for long.

The Covid-19 crisis is making it harder for some sectors to hire people for specialised roles that, in some cases, pay more than $100,000 a year.

Recruitment company Hays’ latest construction survey revealed most employers in the sector found it either “very difficult” or “hard” to recruit for senior roles.

On average the salary for roles in demand, such as construction project manager, was more than $100,000 a year according to Trade Me’s salary guide. Meanwhile, the average salary for sought-after site managers and quantity surveyors was $95,000.

The construction sector is struggling to find senior roles.

Hays NZ managing director Adam Shapley said entry-level roles were the easiest to fill.

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According to Trade Me’s own pay scale the median pay in IT is $100,000, in government and council $70,000 and the legal sector about $65,000.

“New Zealand’s construction industry has long suffered from an acute skilled labour shortage and it seems that even Covid-19 has been unable to ease the skills gaps that exist in many areas,” Shapley said.

He said employers in the construction industry were seeking candidates with strong communication skills.

“Many employers have experienced the situation where a candidate looks amazing on paper and possesses strong technical skills but is unable to form relationships with peers. This creates major issues on-site and internally.”

Trade Me Jobs data showed the legal sector, government and council and IT also saw big drops in job listings and applications.

According to Trade Me’s own pay scale, the median pay in IT was $100,000, in government and council $70,000 and the legal sector about $65,000.

The average number of job listings and applicants in the legal sector halved in August compared to the same time last year.

The government and council sector also experienced a significant year-on-year drop of 30 per cent in applications. Meanwhile, the number of job listings in the sector dropped by 15 per cent in comparison to the same period.

Job listings in property and IT also had smaller, but still notable, drops in the average number of applications on job listings, down 15 per cent and 12 per cent respectively year-on-year.

There were more than 200 programming and development-related IT jobs listed on Trade Me, which had a median salary of $95,000.

Head of Trade Me Jobs Jeremy Wade said, previously, roles in legal and IT would have appealed to overseas candidates, but with the borders closed, employers were seeing fewer applicants for their advertised vacancies.

But Wade said the two industries had also seen fewer job cuts in the pandemic, and many workers staying put.

“We’re not seeing as many jobseekers compared to harder-hit areas like hospitality and tourism,” Wade said.

“Economic uncertainty could be playing a part in people’s decisions to stay put in their current roles while they see how the next few months play out, driving application numbers down.”

Stats NZ employment data showed industries hiring the most were education, health, hospitality and public administration in August.

The number of filled jobs rose 0.6 per cent (6684 jobs) for women and 0.2 per cent (2212 jobs) for men compared to July.

Earnings per worker were down 0.5 per cent year-on-year in August.