Latest Jobs Report No Surprise

Latest Jobs Report No Surprise 

The Queenstown jobfix.com jobs report won’t be a surprise for anyone in the resort town. June had the largest number of job openings available since early 2019 and was 9% above June 2021. The number of visitors in town is testament that tourism is back but the experience is very different with many businesses running on low staff numbers and reduced hours.

The opening of the borders especially for the school holidays and ski season has also coincided with many short-term visa holders receiving their open visa extensions from Immigration NZ resulting in a number joining the job market looking for new roles, better pay, the lure of bonuses or improved working conditions.

The pressure on employers is not getting better in the foreseeable future with the search for staff exhausting. 

Job numbers grow again in June

Seasonality is out the window... June is traditionally the lowest job month of the year for advertised positions. This year June is the highest thus far with 858 roles advertised the June jobfix.com report has revealed. Job opening in June grew 20% over last month and 9% over last June and 100% over the June 2019, prior to Covid.  

This picture is not a unique to Queenstown or indeed NZ, with most developed markets globally trying desperately to find staff. What is unique is the factors driving staff availability with the volume of staff movement, poor number oif overseas working visa take up along with lack of access to NZ from those countries that traditionally made up much of our workforce a lack of government willingness or action to help.

There were 853 jobs advertised across June. The average employer advertised 2.5 jobs in each advert.  Accommodation and Food and Beverage sectors made up 70% of the roles available. 

July appears to be delivering similar numbers