Bay of Plenty job ads drop 19%, businesses becoming ‘more strategic’ in hiring

Job listings have decreased 19% in the Bay of Plenty in the last year. Photo / 123rf

The job market is “extremely disheartening and challenging” even for some “talented” individuals, a Bay recruiter says.

However, there is hope on the horizon.

According to the latest Seek NZ data, Bay of Plenty job listings dropped 19% from September 2023 to September 2024, and 1% from August to September.

Job ad volume fell “pretty dramatically” in the region between March and June this year, a Seek spokesperson said.

There was a jump in worker demand in June but that softened again in the past two months. Ad volumes in the Bay were “not too dissimilar” to pre-Covid levels, the spokesperson said, and were down 9% since September 2019.

Ryan and Alexander director Bernadette Ryan-Hopkins said the agency’s year could best be described as “patchy”.

“We had a very quiet first couple of months of 2024 in the permanent space and then saw dramatic and immediate uplift in Q2 and Q3 where we were exceptionally busy and, just as quickly as we got busy in February, we went quiet in September.

“Unfortunately, neither our uplift nor our quietening seems to have an obvious explanation. As per our experience from previous years, when permanent goes quiet, temporary and contract recruitment gets busier and vice versa.”

Ryan and Alexander director Bernadette Ryan-Hopkins.

Ryan-Hopkins said there were some “truly talented” people looking for work in the Bay of Plenty who, not too long ago, would have had their choice of job offers.

“Right now there just aren’t the opportunities for them to even apply for. This market for those individuals is extremely disheartening and challenging.”

Ryan-Hopkins said the summer months tended to be quieter, but she hopes things would pick up again in the second and third quarters of next year.

“On a positive note, there is a little whisper of positivity that we haven’t felt or seen from our clients in a long time,” Ryan-Hopkins said.

“Whilst there is undoubtedly some pain to come for some, we have felt a general uplift in mood which may be related to inflation reduction and therefore a cost of living reduction for mortgage holders at least.”

Seeing the steady progress on Tauranga commercial and civic projects would hopefully be welcome sights for the city’s beleaguered retail and hospitality sectors, Ryan-Hopkins said.

“Many sectors and businesses, including our own, are doing okay, patiently waiting for the next, hopefully more consistent, uplift to begin.”

Eden Hepi, marketing co-ordinator at Personnel Resources’s Rotorua office, said some of the agency’s clients were struggling but others were “quite busy”.

The agency was offering outplacement support to any business that needed it but was also looking for candidates to fill its vacancies.

Eden Hepi, PA and marketing co-ordinator at Personnel Resources.

“Due to the current economic situation, we have all seen that businesses are becoming more strategic in their hiring, focusing on long term goals, skill gaps, budgets, team fit, and retention,” Hepi said.

“However, temporary roles have proven useful during this period, as they offer businesses the flexibility they need in uncertain times. This has kept us busy working with our clients to meet their short-term needs.”

Hepi said this time of year usually saw an uptick in businesses hiring, particularly in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

She said the agency had seen its clients in the corporate and office space adapt to the market by considering flexible work arrangements and prioritising roles that aligned with their changing needs.

“We are seeing some positive signs and are feeling optimistic about 2025. We believe there will be a rise in demand as companies begin planning for the new year, and we are ready to support them through this transition.”

Claudia Nelson, director of The Right Staff, said the Bay of Plenty’s current job market was “interesting” as, on the one hand, spring and summer were lifting the overall mood and, to an extent, economic sentiment.

But, on the other hand, businesses were contending with negative GDP growth and relatively high unemployment, pressure from rising costs (particularly energy), and several industries were still seeing job losses.

Nelson said tourism, hospitality and retail were gearing up for their busy season and would take on some staff.

Skill shortages were still part of the mix too, especially with the immigration settings tightened again, she said.

“Overall, my expectations are that the job market will overall remain subdued in the Bay of Plenty, into 2025 and potentially for a lot of 2025 too.”