Find Recruitment State of the Market Q2 2023

STATE OF THE MARKET

QUARTER TWO 2023

Welcome to our Quarter Two State of the Market report for 2023.

This marks the end of the second quarter of 2023, as we enter into full-blown winter around the country! Hard to believe that it’s June already, and we’re on the fast track towards the end of the year.

Quarter two has been busy, as expected, with business momentum around the nation continuing to remain strong and a resurgence in candidate availability in the New Zealand market. With the recent announcement of a recession on the cards we expect to see some tightening of purse strings, however expect things to continue much the same. We’ve ridden through turbulent times before, and we always endure!

On Pink Shirt Day, we all came together to celebrate and mark the occasion. We were joined by Latayvia Tualasea-Tautai from the YWCA who spoke to us about her journey through life and how she became the winner of the 2022 Prime Ministers Pacific Youth Award For Leadership & Inspiration. This day also marked our announcement that we have joined up to the Pride Pledge, as we formally commit to making more inclusive and equitable spaces for our rainbow communities. We seek to make Find Recruitment reflective of the peoples and cultures of Aotearoa, so that we can truly understand how to guide and support all people in the employment market.

Our ongoing commitments to carbon neutrality have seen us fund the planting of over 200 native New Zealand trees so far this year, thanks to our partnerships with you. For every invoice that is paid, we directly offset a portion of this to the team at CarbonInvoice and help fund native trees being planted.

We’re ecstatic to announce that we’re officially joining the Talent Acquisition Services Panel for the All of Government agreement in 2023 and beyond. We tendered alongside many other amazing companies late in 2022 and were fortunate enough to be selected. We look forward to bringing our unique touch on recruitment to influential government agencies, who make a difference in the lives of kiwis every day.

It’s been a busy quarter, and I could go on, however for now we hope you enjoy reading, and look forward to working with you closer,

On behalf of the Find Recruitment group,

Ngā mihi, Pete Thompson

Pete Thompson Director, Find IT Recruitment

Our business continues to grow

Find Recruitment Group now includes approximately 50 amazing individuals, all working to make recruitment an easy and engaging experience for both clients and candidates nationwide. Our Wellington office continues to get busier as we welcome Connor and Tash to our IT and Corporate teams respectively. Northward in Auckland, we welcome Toby to the Marketing team, and Alex to our Corporate team. They will each be working to help deliver amazing outcomes for your businesses as the year goes forward.

You can learn more about each of them below!

Connor Roderick Candidate Manager, Wellington IT & Digital

Learn more about Connor here »

Learn more about Toby here »

Learn more about Tash here »

Learn more about Alex here »

Tash Baldwin Senior Consultant, Wellington Corporate

Alex Markovich Candidate Manager, Auckland Corporate

Toby Auer Marketing Assistant, Auckland

Proudly introducing the Pride Pledge

Find Recruitment are delighted to have taken the Pride Pledge in 2023 and we recently announced our commitment to further develop our D,E&I policies and practices within our organisation for our rainbow communities, candidates and clients. We have now started the Pride Pledge Rainbow Inclusion Stocktake which will help inform our plans and goals for the coming 12 months and beyond.

What is Pride Pledge?

The Pride Pledge is a values-based commitment that organisations can take to demonstrate their dedication to the safety, visibility and inclusion of our rainbow communities all year round at work and outside of work.

Pride Pledge is now 5 years young and is New Zealand’s leading Rainbow Inclusion consultancy, partnering with more than 300 organisations of all shapes and sizes around the country, offering a range of services and resources to accelerate Rainbow Inclusion practices and outcomes.

What are some of the trends?

Global data shows clearly that we are entering an era where young people identify as LGBTTQIA+ (Rainbow) in numbers unseen in previous generations. From a range of surveys approximately 30% of Generation Z’s (people born 1997 - 2013) identify somewhere within the rainbow of which 4% identify as gender diverse. As Gen Z’s are entering and beginning to enter the workforce (over 1 million New Zealanders) it is essential that our organisations are playing catch up to ensure they provide a safe and inclusive workplace.

What are some of the key challenges for Rainbow Communities in New Zealand workplaces?

Sadly, despite more progressive laws and more people identifying as LGBTTQIA+ than ever before, data around anxiety, depression and sense of well being and belonging in our workplaces has some way to go to catch up. Our Rainbow communities still suffer bullying and harassment more than any other group and this creates pressures for people to hide their identities and remain closeted at work. This is more prevalent in global data for our Gender Diverse, Intersex and Bi-sexual communities. We are not there yet, but we’re on the right path!

What are some of the opportunities for employers?

Generation Z’s expect employers more than previous generations to show ‘social and community responsibility’ and a visible committment to creating an inclusive workplace. This is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a key to attracting, engaging and retaining talent in the next generation. Organisations that embrace and celebrate diversity will win the best talent because they care about people.

What are some of the key steps organisations can take?

Like anything, there is no silver bullet. There are a range of commitments, policies, systems and culture changes that need to be put in place and this can take time. The most critical step is to make a start and get on the journey. We often see organisations being too afraid or not knowing what to start with. Taking The Pride Pledge and joining the network can be a powerful step with training, support, networking, advice, best practice resources, and policy support, including The Rainbow Inclusion Stocktake. The Stocktake helps you assess your organisations against our best practice framework and provides a recommended action plan of things that matter - there are options for both small to large organisations! We also recommend our Rainbow Awareness Training to build understanding and awareness of our rainbow communities and language - people are curious and want to learn.

For organisations that are more advanced on their journey what can they do?

Don’t take your foot off the accelerator - remain active and curious. Things are changing fast and we are learning new things all the time. Right now, leading organisations are ensuring they have Gender Affirming Policies in place, many announcing paid Gender Affirming Leave and reviewing things like uniform or dress code policies to ensure they are gender inclusive. We also see these organisations measuring and reporting on their Rainbow workforces to better understand their experiences at work and how to address any challenges. It’s a journey - keep going and through Pride Pledge you can get involved in our monthly collaboration meetings to network, learn and share with other leading organisations to stay on your toes.

Meet Martin King

Martin King (he/him) is the Director and Founder of Pride Pledge bringing more than 25 years working in Human Resources and Diversity & Inclusion. Martin is based in Auckland with his husband Mike, their 16 year old son and their dog Chase. Martin is passionate about making the world a better place for our Rainbow communities through Pride Pledge every single day, one organisation at a time.

Connect with Martin

Risk, Compliance & Legal Trends

Chris Martin

Market Resilience

The Risk, Compliance and Legal market has shown resilience this year. 2023 started slowly with weather events and economic uncertainty slowing recruitment. With these factors now stabilising, the appetite to recruit has increased. Risk, Compliance and Legal has not seen redundancies and candidates have confidence in both their job security and ability to find employment.

The overall unemployment rate remains very low with experienced professionals having a true unemployment rate of close to zero. This is positive for employees and remains a challenge for business who are recruiting.

It must be noted that it is very unusual to see a tight employment market and an economic “slowing”. This being the case, we have high hopes of a short-lived technical recession.

Recruitment “Hot Spots”

Banks have largely built Risk and Compliance capacity for many of their current teams, and we have seen a cycle of recruitment across Line 2, then Line 1 and currently there is an appetite for Assurance/ Line 3 positions.

Private Wealth, the Government Sector, and areas such as the Gambling industry are increasing their teams after recent regulatory scrutiny. The legal industry has been reluctant to add conveyancing roles due to a sluggish property market although through there are signs this is changing.

What’s Keeping Everyone Busy

Find are seeing BS11 projects move to completion, and this is providing a supply of contract resource. CoFI and Climate Reporting are now a focus for a many. ESG is exciting as it is starting to broaden out Risk and Compliance opportunities outside of Financial Services. Many expect the FMA to use their increased funding and ambition to become more active with enforcement - driving expanding headcounts. Insurance businesses have a focus on a new code and conduct while those in nonfinancial services are still very much focused on ESG, Reputation and increasingly Incident/ Disaster Management and planning.

Continued online. Click here to continue reading »

So long Aotearoa!

Gidday ‘Stralia! There’s a new ‘trend’ in town, and we are hoping it’s just the latest trend to come and go - like bell bottom jeans! Our upcoming, talented, newly qualified, bright and ambitious Gen-Z talent (not exclusive) have perhaps too much of a dollop of the last two attributes being bright and ambitious. They’re setting their eyes abroad and are ditching the (sometimes) golden shores of New Zealand, (and let’s not forget the eternal construction site called Auckland’s CBD) for Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast or ANYWHERE in Australia. Why? There’s nothing new here. Australia offers better pay, better Super, mostly cheaper housing, certainly cheaper interest rates, mostly cheaper food, cheaper petrol and cheaper electrical goods to name but a few things. (beer and wine seems higher in cost but most of this demographic would sooner grab a protein shake than a Schooner).

Here’s what I’ve seen first-hand.

A trip at the weekend to Sydney revealed to me an incredibly vibrant and exciting city with people walking around. During the day they had shopping bags in hand, and by night these young professionals were off to the most amazing restaurants after spending the afternoon in cool café’s or beautiful roof top bars. You can literally feel the electricity in the air, so why wouldn’t you not move here? Compare that to closer to home - have you been up to Aotea Square recently? The further away from a small strip of restaurants and bars hugging Auckland’s CBD coast, the lower dialled down the electricity in the air is to just a trickle that may power an overpriced electrical car overnight but far from a fast charge!

How do they know?

Tik Tok is uber loaded with ads and posts comparing the cost of living, the earning capacity differential – ask anyone young enough to be on the platform and they’ll agree. Plus the media is all over this type of content, talking about the brain drain to Australia and testimonies from people who wish they’d moved sooner. With so much attention, it’s hard not to get swept up in the appeal of greener pastures.

What does it mean for you?

Watch, protect, develop and try to anchor in those that have the post qualification experience of 2-8 years. What if you can’t? I’m in that boat. From a team of 8, 3 have left in the past 12 months to go overseas. We can only wish them all the best, with a promise that we’ll have a welcoming party at the airport (if/when they return) to take them back to the Find Megabase.

What happens if they leave?

Several of our beloved clients are reaching out asking to backfill a role as one of their finest in their team has resigned, a resignation letter in one hand and a one way ticket in the other. So reach out! Don’t call my wife who’s in the photos though, she works in insurance, call me! I’d be delighted to talk and see how we can help.

Contact me (Simon) on 021 858 919 to chat. First drink is on me!

Simon Rooney

The State of Transformation in Auckland

Samantha Morris

The state of IT transformation in Auckland is currently experiencing significant growth, with several large-scale programmes underway. These initiatives are expected to have a profound impact on the contract market, which has definitely been quieter at the start of the year, creating new opportunities and propelling the industry forward. Of particular note is the finance sector, where a substantial number of transformations are taking place. This sector's increased focus on digitalisation and technological advancements is driving the need for skilled IT professionals who can support and drive these transformations.

As Auckland embraces IT transformation, the contract market is poised for expansion. Organisations across various industries recognise the importance of leveraging technology to stay competitive in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape. As a result, they are investing heavily in IT initiatives aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, customer experience, and overall business performance. The demand for contract IT professionals is expected to rise as these organisations seek specialised expertise to implement and manage complex transformation projects.

The finance industry, in particular, is at the forefront of IT transformation in Auckland. With the increasing adoption of fintech solutions, regulatory changes, and the growing importance of data security, financial institutions are actively pursuing digital transformation initiatives. These efforts involve modernising legacy systems, implementing robust cybersecurity measures, and enhancing customer-facing platforms. As a result, IT professionals with expertise in areas such as technical and generalist business analysis, financial systems integration, software engineering, data analytics, and cybersecurity will find abundant opportunities within the finance sector's ongoing transformation journey.

Skill Trends in Development and Data

Trends and hype cycles are common in the tech industry, with new technologies emerging every year sparking discussions about their potential impact. Here are some of my observations from recruiting in this space, corroborated with insights from sources such as LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, GitHub etc.

What are the most popular programming languages and how does it relate to salary? Looking at TIOBE’s Index, I’m not too surprised to see Python right at the top of the list given how AI’s really taken off in public parlance and how prevalent the language is in that use case. But what’s this at No. 2? Surprisingly enough, we find C occupy the runner-up spot and this is also the case in Stack Overflow’s survey. This is likely a reflection of the growth of IoT devices although this hasn’t quite translated into a spike in demand among our hiring managers (yet). Additionally, Java and C# continue to maintain their popularity, and we’re noticing an increasing number of job postings for Go and Rust roles.

If we consider the popularity of a language as reflecting the presence of a larger pool of developers in the job market, it is reasonable to expect that salaries for popular languages would decrease, while those for less popular languages would increase. In the survey, popular languages like JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python have seen a contraction in median salary, ranging from 5% to 10%. In contrast, less popular languages such as APL, Crystal, and SAS have witnessed impressive double-digit growth. There could be a point to be made in having a “very particular set of skills”.

Developers working with “admired” languages like Rust, Elixir, and Zig reported salaries that are 20% or more higher than the overall median developers — this “admired” tag being defined as languages that developers indicate they would like to continue using having tried it out in the past year. While admiration is useful in separating hype from reality, there is no direct correlation between admiration and financial security. Languages like Python, TypeScript, and HTML/CSS, despite having high admiration scores, only marginally outperform the overall median salary.

When it comes to data, more organizations are embracing modern data stacks, often leveraging cloud data platforms offered by AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Databricks, and Snowflake. While data professionals have traditionally had a multitude of low and no-code tools at their disposal, there is a growing conversation around Python and Rust potentially becoming the standard languages in data engineering. Notably, transformation tools like dbt are gaining considerable traction, and being familiar with them can be advantageous. Despite this, the scarcity of professionals experienced in “legacy” technologies presents some well-compensated job opportunities.

At the end of the day, the popularity of a technology or programming language does not guarantee significant salary growth. Instead, valuable opportunities can arise from finding a niche to specialize in. Thriving in the dynamic field of technology requires a proactive approach to continuously acquiring new skills, obtaining certifications, seeking mentorship, and addressing weaknesses to become a better-rounded tech professional.

The Permanent Market for Accounting & Finance in Wellington

Harriet Hrynkewycz

Over the last quarter, the permanent market in Wellington across Accounting and Corporate has experienced significant activity across various roles. There has been a steady demand for positions such as Accounts Payable, Assistant Accountants, Management Accountants and Credit Controllers.

Notably, the number of available roles for Credit controllers has seen an increase compared to previous quarters. This rise can be attributed to the current market conditions, including discussions of a potential recession. Experienced Credit Controllers have become valuable assets to businesses, helping streamline invoicing processes and improve cashflow to ensure a healthy bottom line.

Another area that has seen an increased demand is Assistant Accountants. The roles in this area vary, with clients seeking candidates with diverse skills and therefore a range in the salary packages. With many candidates struggling to move from transactional accounting to more complex responsibilities, it is important for businesses to understand their long-term goals and provide opportunities for growth. This allows for both the candidates and the business to benefit as candidates quickly adapt and contribute to workplace productivity whilst they are eager to learn from the experience within the team.

There has also been a focus around employers defining their working from home policies and creating clearer boundaries and guidelines for their employees. Where candidates have expressed a strong desire for remote work options in the past year, the hybrid model is really beginning to take place and is having a positive response from candidates. Businesses are encouraging more face to face time and collaboration among colleagues to ensure there is effective communication within their teams. The norm has become three days in the office and two days working remotely with one day a week seeing everyone in the office across many businesses.

Overall, the past quarter in Wellington’s permanent market has been robust. Clients and candidates have both witnessed exciting opportunities for growth and development which has seen high calibre candidates.

With multiple year-end processes coming to a close this quarter, it has been a busy season for all and we look forward to seeing what the coming months will look like as the EOFY fog lifts!

The Contract Market for Accounting & Finance in Wellington

Linda Jessen

Increase in Contract Roles & Extensions

Over the last three months, there has been a significant increase in accounting support and technical accounting contract roles. This increase is a trend we see most years, due to business annual close down periods and a large number of public holidays.

Contract extensions have also become more common in this quarter. The majority of contracting roles within the technical accounting space are approximately 3 months. We are seeing that close to 80% of our contract roles are being extended one or more times. The contracts that haven’t been extended, tend to be contracts covering employees taking annual leave.

We have seen a positive shift in the number of contract roles that provide the opportunity for permanent employment after the duration of the contract. These are often newly established positions, where the first few months are there to ensure that the roles have enough work to be sustained permanently. Often, this can be due to restructures and organisations looking to backfill positions as quickly as possible. This can be a great opportunity for both the client and the candidate to settle into a role before committing to permanent employment.

Increase in Accounts Receivable & Decrease in Accounts Payable

With a general increase in accounting support contracting roles, not all areas have had the same increase. The overall trend has seen an increase in the Accounts Receivable and Payroll space and a slight decrease in Accounts Payable roles. This fluctuation can be caused by the end of the financial year, preventing backlogs for audits, and supporting finance teams throughout upcoming busy periods. Different industries will be impacted at different times of the year, depending on international and national markets.

Encouragement of working in the office

Since the pandemic, working from home has been an expectation for most candidates. However, with each contract role we receive, we are finding that more and more hiring managers are encouraging candidates to come into the office. Since the majority of contracts are around 3 months, it’s important that contractors have the opportunity for a face-to-face introduction and training. Working in the office also allows contractors to meet the team and understand the wider organisation. The flexibility of 1-2 days working from home is still within most policies, however, most managers prefer to onboard in person, especially for shorter-term contracts. Contract roles sitting around 6 months, or those getting extended do encourage more flexibility once candidates have fully settled into the role.

Hourly Rates

Hourly rates have always been very dependent on the organisation and their approved bandings. The hourly rates have been relatively steady throughout the quarter with most experienced Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable roles sitting around $35p/h. Payroll and varied Accounts Assistant roles tend to sit slightly above this rate.

Wellington’s Tech Market Remains Strong

Josh Rea

Find IT Wellington continues to see the tech labour market in Wellington remain buoyant especially for very technical roles with great candidates still finding themselves with multiple job offers. Tech areas we continue to see growth and demand in are software development, data, cyber security and cloud. The demand in Wellington continues across both the Public and Private sectors.

We have started to see more candidates from overseas trickling into Wellington on the new Immigration NZ Visas, we see this as a positive as our tech market has been very tight for a long time. We have had some great successes placing strong overseas candidates into perm roles so far in 2023. Many of our Clients are accredited employers making the process to hire from offshore easier than ever.

Significant numbers of young tech professionals start to head overseas on their long awaited and Covid delayed OE’s. These people are leaving substantial skillgaps for many of our clients. The talent shortage we already have in the tech sector will remain a challenge in our tech marketplace into the foreseeable future, and our ability to work closely with our Clients to help them identify not just the best talent but also the most available talent in the marketplace cannot be underestimated.

On the Contract front we have seen a cooling of the market overall, which we had flagged in our Q1 newsletter due to changes in the financial markets and the looming election in October 2023. There appears to be a solid pipeline of activity moving into Q2 and Q3 in Wellington but we feel a lot of this work taking flight will be dependent on the outcome of the General Election. That said we are tracking very strong contractor talent pools to ensure when our Clients request contractor resource we are ready to go!

Over the last 10 years when we see pressures on organisations to reduce costs we see a trend to try and use Fixed Term contractors as an alternative to using a Contractor and that is happening again now. The issue with Fixed Term is that it typically sits in what we call “no-mans-land”. Candidates will predominantly choose a Permanent role over a Fixed Term position, which makes sense. Traditionally in recruitment pre-2012 Fixed Term contracts had a higher salary weighting applied to them that often sat between 10% and 20%. This was used to address the fact the Fixed Term nature is associated with a higher risk, unfortunately we have seen this rule fall away and we think if our Clients started to adopt this approach again it would make Fixed Term far more attractive to potential candidates.

In summary Find IT Wellington remains upbeat and positive about the continued demand for I.T specialists, the shortage of people continues to drive demand for the most skilled and experienced employees and in turn continues to put pressure on higher salary and wage growth.

Our highly experienced team of tech recruiters are here to support you through your hiring requirements and we are acutely aware that trying to hire in what remains a fiercely competitive market is full of twists and turns that we can help you navigate through. Please don’t hesitate to call us to discuss your requirements, we are only a phone call away!

Can you tell us a bit about your history, and your experience?

I studied psychology because I was interested in dealing with people and issues that matter to them. After completing my studies, I was completely at a loss for what my next step should be. I was then afforded an opportunity to do research at a recruitment company in Johannesburg. I worked at the same recruitment company until Covid-19 hit and then, as you’d expect, everything changed. Not knowing what the future would hold, the company went through changes and I lost my job however I adapted quickly and started my own recruitment business in South Africa. I moved to New Zealand with my family in August 2022, when I joined Find IT in Wellington.

What areas of recruitment do you specialise in?

I have done IT recruitment most of my career and I enjoy the ever changing technologies and growth in the industry. No two days are ever the same, especially with an evolving landscape that sees innovative tech appearing often, and a need for skilled individuals to manage it quickly follows.

What inspired you to make the move to New Zealand?

My family and I consider ourselves to be an adventurous team and moving abroad has always been on the cards for us. After the pandemic and the challenges we faced, it afforded us with the perfect opportunity to take the leap. New Zealand was the perfect destination for our family given we like to spend our time outdoors and exploring this beautiful country.

What do you see as the 3 greatest opportunities in the market?

The market has recently gone through major changes and we see that there’s an ease in the market around candidate availability. There are also more candidates who historically would only have considered contract roles, who are now open to either fixed term or permanent opportunities and salary expectations have also stabilised. I believe that my strength lies in understanding what a client’s needs are for their business, asking the right questions and shortlisting the most relevant and best suited candidates for a role. The aim is to take the pressure off the client so that they don’t have to waste their time sifting through CVs and sorting out quality from quantity. By working with us, we can free them from this process, so that they can focus on running their businesses.

What does success look like to you?

I have been able to find the unicorns when many other companies have stopped looking. That’s what I love about recruitment - I get to chat to people, and meet all kinds of amazing individuals who become part of my network. It always amazes me to see the incredible people we find every day, and to learn about their experience. I had a client recently with a really specific requirement for a Project Manager and after placing the role, the client confessed that they didn’t think the person even existed and they were amazed that I managed to find them. It’s these little gestures that make the most impact to me - knowing that I’ve found the missing piece of the puzzle for a client, and helping them build their ideal team.

As I write this, the headline on Stuff is “New Zealand officially in recession”. Reason to panic if you are a job seeker? Reason to breath a sigh of relief if you are a hiring manager? Not so much in my view.

Recession or no recession (and I realise this will affect many sectors significantly), unemployment remains stubbornly low, at 3.4% at the last count. This is still way below economic zero and we know from past economic downturns that unemployment lags other indicators by some months. Also at 3.4%, there is a lot of room for upwards movement in this rate before we equalise the market. An unemployment rate of 4.5%5.5% is considered “normal conditions” for the labour market.

And because of these factors, employers still cannot relax their views on flexible working and other candidate attraction strategies. What has become the norm is a 2 and 3 (2 days per week from home, and 3 days per week in the office) for most corporate environments and being the norm, it is now expected by employees rather than a ‘nice to have’ benefit.

Employees who are required in the office 5 days per week, and elongated hours or unusual hours have other options in this market and if this way of working and commuting doesn’t suit them it can be the push they need to enter the job market. If you don’t want to lose key people, it’s worth assessing the risk vs the flexibility you offer.

Here at Find we have a design your week approach, and most of our team have a day at home, and 4 days in the office, but a few have 2 WFH days, and 3 in the office, and others have full remote working lives (100% from home). We have found that this is a very personal thing for people and to be able to tailor flexibility to suit the person is the best approach.

We also have 4 Find days per year, one per quarter. These are designed to be circuit breakers, effectively increasing annual leave beyond the statutory 4 weeks and our team are encouraged to use them to take an extra days break every so often to recharge and have a rest. We’ve been doing this for many years now, and they are very well received and utilised.

Ultimately in this supply/demand challenged market, the more flexibility you can introduce the better, there seems to be little downside, however – full remote working is showing signs of fatigue and employees working 100% from home with no centralised office are talking to us about feeling isolated and missing in person contact with their teammates. It appears there is a happy medium!

If you would like to discuss the trends in employee benefits and candidate attraction strategies, feel free to call me on 021 844 076 for a catch up and I can let you know what I’m seeing out there in the labour market – right now.

Eye on the employment climate

Here’s what candidates want & need.

Julian Greaves