Shortage brings job ad repeats

Auckland employers are struggling to fill vacancies for skilled workers and are having to readvertise their available positions.

A monitoring programme by the Department of Labour has recorded a 21 per cent increase in classified job advertisements for the region during the past year.

Department deputy secretary Andrew Crisp said the increase reflected a national growth in skills shortages.

"This and other reports produced under our monitoring programme indicate that, to a large extent, the skill shortages are a product of the strong economy," he said.

"Economic growth is increasing our demand for skilled labour."

Nationally, job vacancy advertisements increased by 14 per cent, with the greatest shortage in highly skilled occupations such as accountancy, auditing, teaching and the health sector.

A separate study by the department found that vacancies in the IT industry increased by 55 per cent.

"The labour market conditions are expected to prevail for some time, meaning skills shortages will continue," Crisp said.

"The unemployment rate is expected to edge lower in the first half of this year and stay under 4 per cent for the next 18 to 24 months."

But because of a "levelling off in activity in the construction industry" the programme recorded no growth in building trade vacancies.