Salary Reports

SEEK Advertised Salary Index - November

December 15, 2023

NATIONAL ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS

Advertised salary growth slowed slightly in the November quarter, to 1.1% quarter-on-quarter (q/q) from 1.3% in August.
At 5.1% year-on-year (y/y), the SEEK ASI is still growing at a robust pace.

REGIONAL ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS

The fastest growth was in Canterbury, with the SEEK ASI up 6.7% y/y.
All regions of New Zealand recorded strong SEEK ASI growth, but the North Island outside of Wellington and Auckland recorded the slowest, at 5% y/y.

INDUSTRY ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS

Among the large industries, the fastest SEEK ASI growth was in Healthcare & Medical (8.7% y/y).

SEEK Country Manager, Rob Clark says:

“The New Zealand labour market remains strong, but has cooled in recent months. This is reflected in the SEEK Advertised Salary Index, which shows a slight slowdown but still a rapid pace of growth overall.

“Despite the strong growth advertised salaries are still not keeping pace with inflation, which is running at 5.6%.

“For Kiwis feeling the pinch from the cost of living, this data confirms that advertised salaries are still growing rapidly, and one of the best ways to get a pay rise is to get a new job.

NATIONAL ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS

Between the August and November quarters, advertised salaries rose by 1.1%. This was a slight slowdown from the 1.3% figure recorded in the previous quarter, and the slowest q/q growth since early 2022. Figure 1 shows the q/q growth rate of the SEEK ASI back to the beginning of 2016.

Figure 1: Quarter-on-quarter growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index

Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.

Y/y growth in the SEEK ASI fell to 5.1% in the year to the November quarter, down from 5.2%. Although advertised salary growth has moderated slightly, it remains high. Advertised salaries in NZ (5.1% y/y) are growing faster than in Australia (4.7%).

The SEEK ASI is also outpacing the StatsNZ Labour Cost Index, which measures the change in wages and salaries for all jobs, not just newly advertised ones, and is running at 4.3% y/y.

Figure 2: Year-on-year growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index

Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.

REGIONAL ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS

All parts of New Zealand are experiencing rapid growth in advertised salaries of 5% or more. The North Island is lagging behind the South, with Wellington (5.2% y/y), Auckland (5.1%) and the rest of the North Island (5%) growing more slowly than Canterbury (6.7%) and the rest of the South Island (6.1%).

Table 1: SEEK Advertised Salary Index growth by region

After a period of lagging behind the rest of the country, Wellington’s advertised salary growth has caught up to the other parts of the North Island.

Figure 3: Year-on-year growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index by region

Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.

INDUSTRY ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS

Among the larger industries, advertised salary growth has been most robust in the Healthcare & Medical industry (8.7% y/y), followed by Engineering (6.9%) and Trades & Services (5.9%). All the larger industries have recorded solid advertised salary growth of 4% or more.

Figure 4: Year-on-year growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index by industry classification

Table 2: SEEK Advertised Salary Index growth by industry

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITOR

When reporting SEEK data, we request that you attribute SEEK as the source and refer to SEEK as an employment marketplace.

Commentary relating to the SEEK NZ Advertised Salary Index can be attributed to Rob Clark, SEEK Country Manager.

About the SEEK Advertised Salary Index (ASI)

The SEEK NZ Advertised Salary Index measures the change in advertised salaries over time for jobs posted on SEEK in New Zealand, removing much of the effect of compositional change. The SEEK NZ Advertised Salary Index is a complement to existing data about the growth in wages and salaries in New Zealand, including Stats NZ’s Labour Cost Index (LCI). The LCI is a measure of the pace of wages growth across the economy. The SEEK NZ Advertised Salary Index provides a timely and frequent read on the pulse of advertised salary growth in New Zealand for vacant roles.

More information about how the SEEK ASI is put together and the current data can be found here.

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.