Job numbers drop for the first time in a decade, women and youth feel the hit

Tuesday, 12 January 2021

Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay is a popular tourism destination.

Job numbers dropped for the first time in a decade in November, the latest Statistics NZ data shows.

The number of jobs fell 0.1 per cent in November compared to a year earlier and tourism, hospitality, and manufacturing were the most affected.

The starkest difference in job numbers was between Wellington and Auckland, with the capital filling 2000 jobs, while the biggest city lost more than 4500.

Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen said this was probably the result of both private and public sector in Wellington performing strongly.

* Working from home here to stay after 4 in 10 Kiwis did it during Covid lockdown

* Māori women took hit in first wave of Covid-19 job losses, Stats NZ data shows

Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen says Wellington had been a popular destination for domestic holidaymakers, resulting in an influx of jobs.

The public administration and safety, health and construction sectors had more than 7000 jobs created in each industry.

Wellington and the surrounding region had also been a popular destination for domestic holidaymakers, he said.

But Hawke’s Bay showed the greatest strength regionally, with filled jobs sitting 3 per cent higher.

The starkest difference in job numbers was between Wellington and Auckland, with the capital creating 2000 jobs, while the biggest city lost more than 4500.

Olsen said the latest job numbers just reinforced the brutal hit the tourism industry took from closed borders.

Auckland had been hit hard by job losses, along with Otago, Southland and Canterbury, as these centres were more popular among on international travellers.

Olsen said while overall job numbers had not been as dire as expected, the trend was likely to continue as summer was typically a busy period for international travel.

Female and youth job losses were also becoming greater, figures showed.

Olsen said the continued deterioration in the number of young people and women employment was worrying.

He said more work was needed to specifically address this issue and support these groups back into employment.

Last month the Restaurant Association launched a pilot initiative with the Ministry of Social Development to work with employers to upskill and train their employees so businesses could retain staff and keep them employed.

The association said the border closures had created a skills shortage for jobs typically filled by overseas workers.

Whangarei restaurant Suk Jai Thai owner Charn Tiebtienrat said he had been struggling to find a Thai chef at his restaurant to replace one of his chefs who was leaving the country to be with family in Thailand.

“Once they go, they won’t be able to come back until the borders open. That makes it very hard because then when the borders were opened we could easily hire staff from Thailand,” Tiebtienrat said.

Hospitality worker and advocate Chloe Ann-King says the skills shortage had been amplified by the industry being plagued with low wages, exploitation and workers being undervalued.

He said it had been hard to hire chefs in Whangarei, it was especially rare to find chefs trained in Thai cuisine.

Tiebtienrat said the slow down in tourism had made it easier for the restaurant to cope.

“I wouldn't normally be happy about having fewer customer but it’s made it much easier to operate with one chef,” he said.

Hospitality worker and advocate Chloe Ann-King said the skills shortage had been amplified by the industry being plagued with low wages, exploitation and workers being undervalued.

“There needs to be a better understanding about why New Zealand-born hospitality workers are pretty gun-shy now. A lot of us have experienced horrific exploitation in the industry, wage theft is almost a business model.

“I have so much passion for the industry, it is high skilled work and there are elements of it that I love but I think a lot of us are just burnt out.

“We are paid so appallingly, and they fail to train staff properly and invest in them.”

Olsen said businesses needed to be ready and willing to take on younger people and train them.

Wellington was the region with the most-improved job growth, according to the figures.

He said there was expected to be more discussion around the possibility of a subsidy to incentivise employers about hiring young staff and training them for the skills shortage.

“There is growing potential for a targeted response from the Government for industries like we saw with infrastructure spend.”

CAPITAL JOB MARKET MOST-IMPROVED

The capital had the most-improved change in job numbers across all regions in New Zealand thanks to its large public sector, and its construction and health industries.

Olsen said the Wellington region had 2720 more jobs in November 2020 versus the same period for November 2019, far-and-away the best change for any region.

“Having a look, this is definitely coming through with the public sector,” Olsen said.

Given some industries had become smaller due to job losses and Covid-19, the public sector had been a key driver of new economic activity, he said.

However, the other two notable industries driving job growth in the capital were construction – with “considerable” new employment creation – and health.

Olsen said the construction job boost highlighted how much building work was going on around the wider region, including more consents being approved and infrastructure being erected.

The jobs created for health workers could be put down to the increased need for them due to the pandemic, he said.

But these sectors were still “certainly” not as big as growth in public sector jobs.

Olsen said a concentration effect could be seen in the capital’s spike of public sector workers, with more jobs created in various ministries and departments by the Government having to respond quickly to Covid-19.