Office support staff hard to find

Hiring expectations among New Zealand businesses are the highest they have been since 1999, according to The Hudson Report: Employment and HR Trends.

Its survey of 1683 clients, released last week show 43.5 per cent expect to hire staff despite indicators showing business confidence is faltering in some areas.

"Research shows businesses remain optimistic in terms of their hiring outlook," says Marc Burrage, general manager at Hudson New Zealand. "The results demonstrate how dramatic the skill shortage has been.

"Employers are operating on a reduced headcount and with growth predicted to continue, albeit at a reduced rate, they are still desperate to find the right people with the right skills to continue their business success."

The net effect is 4.2 percentage points higher than the previous Hudson survey (six months to June).

Unemployment now stands at just 3.9 per cent, its lowest level since the mid 1980s.

"This is close to full employment, and given the historically high participation rates and record levels of employment, there is limited scope for further downward movement.

"Increasingly, companies are focusing their efforts in retaining and developing their existing workforce, especially their top performers," says Burrage.

"In particular, we are continuing to see a strong demand for the knowledge worker, which should translate into wage pressure for this segment of the employment market.

"However, skill shortages are evident. Staff retention remains a critical issue as replacement costs and downtime impact on profitability."

The Hudson survey shows a positive outlook across all industries for the coming six months, in particular, information technology (+62.9 per cent), government (+48.9 per cent), financial services/insurance (+46.4 per cent) and professional services (+45.9 per cent).

The survey says the tight labour market means good contract and temporary staff are increasingly difficult to find.

Hudson also says the skills shortages are having a dramatic effect on office support salaries, some of which have increased by more than 30 per cent since 2003.

"Job seekers with solid office support skills and experience have unprecedented job opportunities.

"Candidates who possess excellent communications skills, the ability to multi-task and problem solve, together with strong customer service skills are in hot demand," says the company's office support manager Liza Viz.

"There is huge competition for a limited pool of talent.

"The competition is so tough in fact that, in many instances, we're losing candidates at the referee check stage. Employers are finding their former staff are back on the market so they make a counter-offer."

"Job seekers with those sought-after skills are finding jobs within a week - from the day that they start looking until the day they are placed in a job. Candidates often have several job offers during this time so employers need to respond quickly if they want to hire a candidate."

Hudson recommends that employers be flexible in their recruitment approach.

"The main way that businesses can increase their chances of filling a position is to broaden out their ideas of the 'ideal' candidate.

Employers should anticipate that their new employees will require training in certain areas."

Hudson says employers should also offer to hold interviews outside normal office hours and offer benefits, such as parking, gym memberships or flexi-hours to retain staff.