Early childhood is a great profession according to Evolve Education Group which has more than 100 centres arounf New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Early childhood is a great profession according to Evolve Education Group which has more than 100 centres arounf New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
New research by a major recruitment agency has revealed the most sought-after jobs in the country.
Early childhood education is the most attractive industry sector to work in, followed by tertiary education and central government, according to Randstad's 2022 Employer Brand Research, which surveyed 4276 people.
Employers continue to wagea war for talent - one employer is offering a $4000 sign-on bonus for a hard-to-fill role and other bosses are tailoring packages to combat rising inflation.
Randstad New Zealand country director Richard Kennedy. Photo / Supplied
Randstad New Zealand country director Richard Kennedy said early childhood continued to perform well in terms of desirability.
''It provides flexibility, making it particularly attractive to parents balancing work with family commitments.''
He said work-life balance remained the most important priority for jobseekers when it came to choosing where to work, followed by salary and benefits.
''People are reassessing what's important to them, whether that be achieving greater work-life balance, securing their next career move, an overseas experience or promotion.''
Regardless, there continued to be more roles than candidates, especially in high-demand industries like education, IT, healthcare, construction, the public sector and hospitality.
Commenting on the survey's findings, early childhood Evolve Education Group NZ general manager of people and talent Bev Davies said the company focused on supporting staff.
The company had more than 100 early childhood centres nationwide, including Tauranga and Rotorua.
''It is important to us to consider what we can do to support our teams, especially during very challenging circumstances - and then deliver on this."
Evolve had numerous roles advertised on its website.
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology executive director student and staff experience Patrick Brus. Photo / Supplied
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology executive director of student and staff experience Patrick Brus said tertiary education was rewarding as it focused on student and community success.
"When people achieve their education goals it is not only beneficial to them but the whole community. Tertiary and vocational education is about helping our people and our communities succeed.''
Benefits for staff included flexible working options, EAP services, wellness days and initiatives, and professional development opportunities.
On campus, there were cafes, gyms, salons and barbershops and automotive centres.
Toi Ohomai had 12 positions advertised and roles varied from academic teaching to student support, research, and IT.
Ryan and Alexander Recruitment Agency director Kiri Burney said the market was busy across all industries with a slight slow down in construction.
Engineers, surveyors, ICT, scientists, qualified accountants and contact centre staff were the hardest jobs to fill while part-time roles were sought after.
More people were also looking to cut costs by working from home to gain time and save on petrol and parking, Burney said.
Some employers were upping the ante with their packages to combat rising inflation.
''Clients are getting creative with some roles commanding sign-on bonuses, short-term or long-term financial incentives, an extra week's annual leave and some looking at fuel cards and so on with the increased cost of living.''
Burney said employers should not be afraid to think outside the box and consider all ideas when it came to attracting staff.
Alexander Tidy from Drake NZ said many people were looking for part-time jobs, including working nights and weekends to secure extra income to combat the rise in the cost of living.
''Companies are moving faster to employ people to avoid missing out on great candidates. Jobs we are finding hardest to fill are those offering minimum wage.
''With a low supply of staff and high demand for labour, companies who pay more will attract the talent.''
Tidy said some job benefits included above-market pay rates, security, flexibility, a four-day work week, working from home, upskilling, training and development, job location, PPE gear, tool allowance and lucrative counter-offers to keep candidates.
In the temporary job market, long-term temp roles are easier to fill, and short-term assignments are more challenging.
However, with talk of a recession on the horizon, conditions may become similar to the GFC, where employers tightened their belts and shifted from employing permanent staff to using temporary staff, Tidy said.
Personnel Resources / Temp Resources Rotorua manager Angelique Scott said an admin role which used to attract 150 applications had dropped to 20-30 if "we are lucky".
''I think with the borders opening up it will help a little. I do think the market will take a little while to turn around and get back to the 'new normal', whatever that may be. We just have to go with the flow.''
She said places like Scion were offering a nine-day fortnight while others had working from home, birthday days off and "our favourite is providing cheese, crackers and chocolate biscuits".
At the moment it had eight permanent financial roles and was recruiting for a funeral director, while payroll specialists were hard to find and even a "receptionist role can be hard to fill these days".
SEEK NZ country manager Rob Clark. Photo / Supplied
Seek NZ country manager Rob Clark said at the moment a registered nurse role in Katikati came with a $4000 sign-on bonus.
"There is a significant shortage of nurses so companies are having to be more creative in ways to attract people. Employers are trying to attract staff and stand out and the beauty of a sign-on bonus is it's a one-off and not ongoing.''
He said job levels were high and employment levels were low and that was still the case despite talk of a recession.
''It is an environment which is different to what we typically see.''
Job listings had increased across the board and there were nearly 2000 job vacancies for the Bay of Plenty on its website.
Data from its Employment Dashboard for July show national job ads were up 9 per cent year on year. In the Bay of Plenty, they dropped 3 per cent last month but were still up 20 per cent for the year to July.
