Tradies in demand in Wairarapa

Kiwi Recruitment Wairarapa director Barry Gleeson said skilled tradesmen, including qualified gas fitters, welders, digger, grader and crane drivers, were in short supply.

Experienced tradies are in hot demand in Wairarapa, according to a recruitment agency.

Nationally, skilled job vacancies advertised on Seek and Trade Me were up 12.7 per cent in the year to the end of August, a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment report found.

Kiwi Recruitment Wairarapa director Barry Gleeson said skilled tradesmen, including qualified gas fitters, welders, digger, grader and crane drivers, were in short supply.

Experienced construction site supervisors, beef boners, chefs and maitre d's were also hard to come by, he said.

There were a lot of roofers around but not many could lead a gang, he said.

"Employers need to keep training their employees so they can move into more experienced positions," he said. "It's a matter of self-investing in their own region."

There were more applicants than positions available at the high end management level of the market, he said.

Employers commonly promoted lifestyle opportunities in Wairarapa, including sport and recreation opportunities when recruiting, he said.

Employers and Manufacturers Association spokesman Gilbert Peterson said recruitment difficulties stemmed from a gap between skills required for jobs and skills actually being developed.

"Larger companies are investing in skills training, but smaller companies tend not to be able afford to do that," he said. "There's a tight labour market and lots of people understand the need to upskill, but the demand for skills keeps getting ahead of them."

Statistics New Zealand's 2014 business operations survey of 36,000 businesses found 31 per cent were reporting vacancies that were hard to fill, particularly for tradespeople.

The trend has been rising since 2009.

Trade Me Jobs data for the July-September quarter showed Masterton job listings were up 23 per cent compared with the same period last year, with 202 listings.