Trade vacancies skyrocket as the absence of migrant workers continues to bite

Thursday, 15 April 2021

The job market has had a strong start to the year, with the number of vacancies listed on Trade Me Jobs skyrocketing in first quarter.

Trade Me Jobs spokesperson Matt Tolich said, nationwide, the number of job listings on the site increased by 22 per cent in the first three months of 2021 when compared with the same period in 2020.

“The start of the year is always a busy period for the job market, but we saw an even stronger Q1 than expected with the phenomenal increase in listings,” Tolich said.

The largest year-on-year increases in listings in the first quarter were seen in the automotive sector, which saw a 50 per cent jump in vacancies, the construction and roading sector, which was up 43 per cent, and the manufacturing and operations sector, up 40 per cent.

There has been a 50 per cent jump in vacancies in the automotive sector in the first three months of 2021.

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Tolich said the increases in these sectors could be put down to a lack of migrant workers, which created a skill shortage in the market.

“We’re also seeing Kiwis increase their discretionary spending on things like house renovations and car upgrades from their redirected overseas holiday funds.”

The sectors that struggled the most during the first three months of 2021 were legal, down 10 per cent, accounting, down 15 per cent, and customer services, also down 15 per cent.

While the job market was already feeling the impact of economic uncertainty related to Covid-19 in the first quarter of 2020, a comparison of January to March 2021 with the same three months in 2019 showed a 15 per cent increase in listings.

The job market was in extremely good health, with plenty of roles available, Tolich said.

”One year ago the outlook for the job market was pretty dire, to say the least, so it’s remarkable to see such a strong start to the year and evidence of more good news for job seekers and employers to come.”

Trade Me job listings show a cracking start to 2021 for job seekers, though the Auckland region is lagging behind the rest of the country.

Nationwide, every region had a year-on-year increase in job listings in the first quarter, he said.

The biggest increases were in Gisborne, which had a 56 per cent increase in job vacancies, Hawkes Bay, up 54 per cent, Manawatū/Whanganui, up 46 per cent, and Nelson/Tasman, up 47 per cent.

However, Auckland continued to lag compared with the other regions, according to the Trade Me data.

“In fact, Auckland was the only region to not see a year-on-year listing increase in the double digits as it continued to bear the brunt of Covid-19 impacts,” Tolich said.

Auckland’s job vacancies had a 1 per cent increase.

But it was not all doom and gloom for the Auckland region, he said.

“It’s encouraging to see listing numbers in the region increased by a whopping 32 per cent when compared with Q4 of 2020,” he said.

“The region’s average salary also saw an increase of 2 per cent to $65,209 in Q1 from the same period in 2020.”

Job listings in the Wellington region had a strong start to the year, up 20 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to the data.

Tolich said the average pay in the Wellington region saw no change when compared with this time last year at $68,796.

During the first quarter, the average pay for jobs increased in every region except for Wellington when compared with the same period last year.

“Average pay in Bay of Plenty ($60,770) and Canterbury hit all-time highs ($60,411) in Q1,” Tolich said.

According to Trade Me’s data analysis, all five of the top-paying roles onsite were in the IT sector in the first quarter, with the highest-paid role – IT project manager – advertising an average salary of $148,582.

“This marks the second quarter we have seen this in a row, showing the important role IT is playing in the post-Covid world, with many employers looking to tech solutions to help bolster their organisations and survive the pandemic.”

Tolich said he expected to see the average pay increase in the coming quarter as a result of the recent minimum wage increase.