04. The New Zealand Labour Market Landscape

Employees seriously considering their current remuneration and using market pressures to maximize their employment.

Wages have risen by 7.6%. Minimum wage is now 74% of NZ’s median wage.

Big pay rises are concentrated to specialised roles in talent short markets where the balance of power sits with the employee.

Continued wage growth as cost-of-living increases allow employees to apply pressure for market wide pay increases.

Employers prioritising retaining staff

Business pressure to increase wages in an already stretched environment

Business is optimistic that border openings will alleviate some of the strain. Visa applications processes risk this.

Job advertising is less effective, networks and databases are crucial to finding talent.

Unemployment

Record low at 3.2% Govt. Initiatives

Increase minimum wage, additional sick leave and stat holidays. Household Living Costs

Increase between 4.8% - 5.4%

Inflation

At a three decade high at 5.9% Supply Chain Disruptions

Impacting consumer goods availability and costs. Visa Processing Delays

Hampering immigration, backlog of resident applications is largest in NZ’s history.

Global ‘great resignation’ trends starting to impact the NZ market. Change in expectations. Less willing to travel to work, flexibility & WFH options are the norm.

More roles than candidates – in 2021 job listing numbers increased by 51% vs. 2020. Candidates are not moving for the same money, but for increases at a minimum of 5% but up to 50%.

Employers are using counter offers to try and retain staff. Multiple offers are common place in the market.

Employers are having to incorporate WFH and flexible working into their proposition.

There are 750,000 people in the 20-30 age bracket who may be considering their OEs as borders open.

Expect less applications and shortlisted candidates, processes need to move fast and best offers need to be put forward upfront.