Fewer NZ firms looking to hire, says survey

The number of businesses planning to increase staff has slipped back, according to the Hudson Report Employment Expectations Survey.

A net 19.8 per cent of businesses intended to increase their permanent headcount during October to December, down 0.5 percentage points on the previous quarter, the report said.

Hudson New Zealand executive general manager Marc Burrage said the slight dip was on the back of five quarters of growth in positive sentiment "so we shouldn't be overly concerned by these results".

"It's widely accepted that our road to economic recovery will be a slow and gradual affair, rather than a rapid rise to prosperity," Burrage said.

"Sentiment among South Island employers dropped for the first time in 18 months - down 12.1 percentage points to 22.4 per cent - likely influenced by the collapse of South Canterbury Finance and a low in new manufacturing orders," the report said.

"The Hudson Report was undertaken before the Canterbury earthquake and [the] ongoing impact of this event remains unclear," Burrage said.

"In the immediate term, particularly in the Canterbury region, hiring is very likely to be on hold while businesses assess the impact of the quake and work to resume normal operations."

In the lower North Island sentiment slipped back 3.8 percentage points to 13.1 per cent, largely driven by continued restructuring within central government departments.

However, sentiment among upper North Island employers was up, with a net 22.4 per cent of employers intending to increase staff numbers during the next quarter.

All industries reported a positive sentiment for a fifth consecutive quarter with the exception of the government sector which was focused on increasing cost efficiencies, the report said.

Hudson said the quarter again saw strong intentions of employers to increase the size of their contracting/temporary workforce - up 1.7 percentage points to a net 14.9 per cent.

"The continued increase in businesses intending to hire contracting/temporary employees is a positive trend as traditionally this has been an indicator of improving economic conditions," Burrage said.

Lower levels of optimism were reported by about half the industries surveyed compared to the previous quarter, including construction, property, engineering, financial services, professional services, manufacturing, IT and fast-moving consumer goods.

Telecommunications, private healthcare, retail and education were more positive in their outlook compared to the July to September quarter, the report said.