The most common question we get asked by both clients and job seekers is what is happening in the local market, so we thought we would give you, our observations.
We are finding the volume of job ads is down, and the number of applicants is high.
A recent Seek report showed Job ads in the Bay of Plenty down 16% for February 2025 compared to February 2024 (Source https://www.seek.co.nz/about/news/article/seek-employment-report-march )
This is still not making recruiting good staff easy. A tight economy has seen many companies running more lean and efficient operations. As you would expect if a business is reducing headcount they release their weaker staff first and retain their top performers.
This means although the volume of applicants is high the quality can be hit and miss. It also makes going through job applications a very time-consuming exercise.
The market conditions vary sector by sector, so I have broken it down by the main sectors that Jigsaw operate in.
Engineering & Technical
Good quality candidates remain difficult to find despite a large volume of applicants to job ads, we particularly see a large volume of overseas candidates applying.
Roles that are particularly in short supply locally include Design Engineers, Diesel Mechanics, HVAC Engineers and good quality Project Managers in the 100-150k salary range. Maintenance Engineers are in short supply particularly multiskilled people with both electrical and mechanical backgrounds but are around if paying a fair wage.
White Collar Construction
Commercial Construction seems to have a good outlook in the medium to long term and we are starting to see an increased demand for Estimators and Quantity Surveyors. Architecture has been tough, but we have had some roles coming through in the past few weeks.
Consultant Engineering remains a candidate short market. Structural Design Engineers and Geotechnical Engineers are particularly in short supply locally.
Project Management and Site Management Roles are in short supply with some great candidates actively looking for roles but businesses reluctant to make offers until projects are confirmed.
Residential Construction has been slow, but we are seeing some signs of life with QS roles and sales roles starting to appear as market confidence grows
Office, Finance & Legal
Applications for roles are high but finding quality staff is a very time-consuming exercise. We recently placed an office/finance manager role and had over 200 applicants.
We have been very busy recently with clients looking for finance/accounts staff as they are struggling to find quality candidates with solid work histories.
Candidates with Simpro Experience are getting snapped up very quickly by clients in the trades sector.
Good Legal Secretaries are hard to source and retain. We have had good success recently finding experienced staff from out of the area that want to relocate to the Bay of Plenty.
Supply Chain & Logistics
We are seeing a good demand from clients for Dispatchers, experienced staff are in demand particularly if they are willing to do on call work on evenings and weekends.
Experienced QA/QC staff are difficult to source although there is a high volume of graduate applicants.
HR & People
We are seeing a steady demand for lower-level roles but very little in management roles
Sales & Marketing
Opportunities in Sales & Marketing are quite slim currently
Executive
Roles over the 200k bracket are scarce and clients have the luxury of being able to be very specific about the background of the candidate they are looking for. We recently placed a General Manager at an energy company and had in excess of 250 applicants. The role was filled with a quality candidate but we phone interviewed over 20 candidates and did face to face interviews with 7 candidates to ensure we got the right fit for the client.
Feel free to contact our team should you want any further insights into the local job market.
