Employment: Decline in hiring activity accelerates in June, job market ‘pretty tough’

Job ad volumes continue to fall as economic pressures stymie hiring activity. Photo / 123rf

The decline in hiring activity accelerated in June with significant weakness for jobs in retail, according to data from Seek.

Seek NZ’s Employment Report showed job ads fell 8% in June when compared with May and are now down 35% year on year. Ad volumes were down 13% on a quarterly basis.

“It is a pretty tough market for jobseekers at the moment, with demand for workers declining in almost all regions and in most of our largest industries,” Seek country manager Rob Clark said.

“The Matariki public holiday likely added to the hiring slowdown for the month, although it wasn’t the only factor, with economic pressures continuing to stymie hiring activity.”

Most industries recorded a fall in job ad volumes in June, with significant declines in retail and consumer products (-18%), trades and services (-12%) and healthcare and medical (-9%).

Over the past year, Government and defence ads have dropped by 59% as the National-led Government embarks on a cost-cutting drive that has seen thousands of public sector roles cut.

Job ads in construction have halved (-50%) in the past year.

Auckland (-8%), Wellington (-9%) and Canterbury (-7%) led the overall decline in job ads.

Clark said competition was at its highest level. This was particularly the case for roles in retail and consumer products where applications per job ad have more than doubled since last year, he said.

Overall, applications per job (recorded with a one-month lag) rose 1% in May compared with April, but growth has slowed over the past quarter.

Applications per job ad rose for all industries year on year, led by the consumer services sector, which includes retail and consumer products (124%), call centre and customer service (97%) and administration and office support (92%).

“It remains an extremely competitive market among candidates,” the report noted.

Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based journalist with the Herald business team. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics including retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.