Employment Reports
SEEK Employment Report- November 2023
November 2023 Key Findings
NATIONAL INSIGHTS:
- Job ads declined 5% in November and are now 28% lower year-on-year (y/y).
- Applications per job ad rose for a second month, up 5% from the month prior* and are now at the highest level on record.
REGION INSIGHTS:
- Three regions recorded an increase in job ads in November: Southland (3%) Manawatu (2%) and Gisborne (1%).
- The largest declines in ad volumes were in Taranaki (-14%), Marlborough (-10%) and Wellington (-7%).
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:
- Job ads rose in just four industries, including by 22% in Insurance & Superannuation.
- Drops in Retail & Consumer Products (-12%) and Hospitality & Tourism (-9%) were lead contributors to the overall decline.
*Applications per job ad are recorded with a one-month lag. Data shown in this report refers to October data.
NATIONAL INSIGHTS
Job ads fell for the third consecutive month, declining 5% from October. Volumes are now 28% lower y/y.
Job ad volumes fell to a greater degree in the cities compared to the regions, and while most of the country recorded a decline in ads, there were increases in some of the smaller regions, including Manawatu (2%).
Applications per job ad rose for a second month, up 4% in October and are now at the highest level recorded by SEEK, demonstrating incredibly high interest among candidates.
Figure 1: National SEEK job ad percentage change m/m November 2022 to November 2023
Table 1: National and regional job ad growth/decline comparing November 2023 to: i) October 2023 (m/m), ii) November 2022 (y/y).
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REGION INSIGHTS
The largest regions recorded notable job ad decline in November, with Auckland (-6%), Wellington (-7%) and Waikato (-6%) leading the overall drop in ad volumes.
The decline was not across the board, however, as Manawatu (2%), Southland (3%) and Gisborne (1%) recorded small increases in job ad volumes m/m.
When compared to the same time last year, Gisborne is the only region where job ads have increased, up 9% from November 2022, although the growth has slowed in the past month, down from 30% y/y in October 2023. All other regions have declined after the Great Job Boom of 2022.
Applications per job ad rose in most regions, notably in Auckland (5%), Wellington (4%), Canterbury (5%) and Waikato (3%).
Figure 2: Major region job ad trends: November 2019 to November 2023
Index: 100 = 2013 avg
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Figure 3: National SEEK job ad percentage change by region (November 2023 vs October 2023)
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INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Job ad numbers fell in most industries m/m, with increases only in Insurance & Superannuation (22%), Design & Architecture (6%) and marginal rises in three others.
The industries that led the decline in job ads in November were Retail & Consumer Products (-12%), Hospitality & Tourism (-9%) and Administration & Office Support (-8%).
Over the past quarter, Professional Services roles have recorded the greatest decline (-12%) whereas the less volatile Public Sector, while still on the decline, has fallen to a much lesser degree (-4%).
Table 2: Job ad decline by sector, quarter to November v previous quarter.
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Applications per job ad rose in most industries as job ads fell in October, including in Community Services & Development (28%) and Retail & Consumer Products (12%).
Figure 4: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (November 2023 vs October 2023) – Ordered by job ad volume
-ENDS-
ABOUT THE SEEK NZ EMPLOYMENT REPORT
The SEEK Employment Report provides a comprehensive overview of the New Zealand employment marketplace. The report includes the SEEK New Job Ad Index, which measures only new job ads posted within the reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for labour across all classifications. SEEK’s total job ad volume (not disclosed in this report) includes duplicated job advertisements and refreshed job ads. As a result, the SEEK New Job Ad Index does not always match the movement in SEEK’s total job ad volume.
Notes:
(1) The SEI may differ to the job ad count on SEEK’s website due to a number of factors including: a) seasonal adjustments applied to the SEI; b) the exclusion of duplicated job ads from the SEI; and c) the exclusion of Company Listings (included under Company Profiles) from the SEI.
(2) The Covid-19 pandemic led to a high level of volatility in labour market data between April 2020 and March 2022. As a result, caution is recommended when interpreting trend estimates during this period as large month-to-month changes in variables generated multiple trend breaks
(3) The applications per ad index contains a series break at Jan 2016 when the calculation of this series changed from using gross variables (inclusive of all SEEK job listings) to net variables (removing duplicate job listings). This change has a negligible impact on recent data points, but caution is recommended when interpreting data immediately following the series break, and particularly in 2016 where growth rates have not been adjusted for the series break.
DISCLAIMER
The Data should be viewed and regarded as standalone information and should not be aggregated with any other information whether such information has been previously provided by SEEK Limited, ("SEEK"). The Data is given in summary form and whilst care has been taken in its preparation, SEEK makes no representations whatsoever about its completeness or accuracy. SEEK expressly bears no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed by you on the Data, or from the use of the Data by you. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.
