Job ads jumped 4% in January, marking largest monthly rise since July 2024, as hiring activity picks up across most regions and industries with competition 'fierce'

Employment marketplace SEEK says job advertisement volumes jumped 4% during the month of January, the largest month-on month increase since July 2024.

The 4% monthly increase was driven by growth in New Zealand’s largest regions, and in most industries. 

However, job ad numbers were down 17% year-on-year, although SEEK says the rate of decline in ad volumes recorded over the past four years has slowed over the last six months.

“After six months of consistently falling job ads in the early half of 2024, the rate of decline in the past six months has slowed. While it was pleasing to see growth in January, it is a bit too early to say that volumes have stabilised,” SEEK Country Manager Rob Clark says.

“There have been smaller fluctuations month-on-month during the past half-year and pockets of broad growth in some of the larger regions in recent months, such as Wellington and Otago.”

Clark says Otago in particular, had reported rising demand for hospitality and tourism workers having driven growth for the past few months. Otago job ads rose 8% in January.

“It is good to see hiring activity rising, particularly in the hard-hit smaller regions. We do expect more optimism among hirers at the start of the year, and this month’s numbers may be more a sign of a return to business after the summer break, than a longer term trend.”

All regions except Taranaki, where job ad volumes fell 11% month-on-month, recorded job ad growth in January.

SEEK says the largest jumps in ad volume in January were in the smaller regions of Tasman (up 18%) and Marlborough (up 12%).

Across NZ’s biggest regions, Auckland (up 5%) and Canterbury ( up 7%) were the largest contributors to the overall increase in ad volumes for the month.

SEEK’s report says Wellington, where ads broadly fell for the first half of 2024, has experienced more growth than decline since July, and rose 3% in January.

SEEK says the rise in ad volumes in January was led by increasing demand for public sector workers, particularly within education and training (up 18%), government and defence (up 9%), and healthcare and medical roles (up 5%).

The only industries which did not record growth in January were legal (down 17%), insuranceand superannuation (down 16%), and accounting (down 3%).

Competition 'extremely fierce'

Applications per job, which SEEK records with a one month lag, also rose in December, up 2% month-on-month. On a yearly basis, applications per job ad are 26% higher than in December 2023. 

SEEK says although the rate of growth has decreased significantly over the past year, competition remains “extremely fierce” for available job opportunities.

"After falling in November, applications per job ad rose 2% in December, and are 26% higher year-on-year. Though the rate of growth has decreased significantly over the past year, competition remains extremely fierce for the job opportunities available," says Clark.