Construction was a main driver of jobs growth due to infrastructure and housing projects according to an analysis of more than 56,000 roles listed on Trade Me Jobs in 2014.
The construction and architecture sector managed a 38% increase nationally, underpinned by a 67% increase in Auckland, and a 24% increase in Canterbury.
In Auckland, we’ve seen two clients open industrial and construction recruitment branches in the city due to such high demand for workers,” says Head of Trade Me Jobs Peter Osborne.
“Not to be outdone, transport and logistics grew 22.1% nationally, manufacturing and operations by 17.6%, Trades and services by 15.9%, and in the lead-up to Christmas we saw retail jobs grow 15.2% year-on-year,” he says.
The New Zealand employment market closed a strong year with double-digit growth in the last quarter of 2014, The number of jobs advertised on Trade Me jobs lifted almost 14% year-on-year for the October to December quarter.
Osborne says double-digit growth in advertised job numbers has become the new normal.
“Looking back over the whole of 2014, it’s been a bumper year. Industrial sectors like automotive, construction, manufacturing, operations and the trades are all surging, and we’ve seen a lot more job opportunities created,” he says.
“Auckland in particular – which makes up approximately 40% of the national jobs market – showed remarkable growth. We saw the number of jobs advertised in Auckland go up 20% quarter-on-quarter throughout 2014.
“Canterbury is still largely driven by the rebuilding efforts and we see this reflected in transport and logistics roles up 27.2%, construction and architecture up 22.7%, and manufacturing and operations up an impressive 49.8% on the same period last year.
“With Auckland and Christchurch focused on infrastructure and housing requirements, we will likely see more growth in trade and services, construction and architecture, and transport and logistics in 2015.
“Other parts of the country also continue to show signs of a very strong job market and these are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. We expect to see the double-digit growth in job advertising to continue well into 2015,” Osborne concludes.
