New Zealand's labour market is now deteriorating at a rate that is visible to the naked eye.
Coupled with the closure of businesses, thousands of New Zealanders began to sign up for unemployment benefits......
Job Market:
Last year's "drought death", this year's "waterlogging death"
According to the latest data from job search website Seek NZ, the number of job advertisements nationwide fell by 0.4% in March and 27% year-on-year.
At the same time, the number of applicants for jobs has soared by 114% compared to the same period last year, and the competition is fierce.
How grim the situation is, the bosses of the recruitment companies actually see it most intuitively.
Phil van Syp, managing director of 1st Call Recruitment, said the job market was nothing short of upside down compared to the same period last year.
Compared to the company's thirst for talent at the time, the situation has now become that job seekers are not rejected - as long as there is a job, it doesn't matter what you do.
Van Syp said that in the past, they had never recruited builders, bricklayers and landscape architects, but now they can have 10 other people on the bench if "one person is unreliable or doesn't want to do it."
Lynn Hanson, a consultant at Personnel Resources Rotorua, said some small businesses are currently delaying hiring staff and there is a general cautious approach.
Holly Oppers, the recruitment manager at Talent ID, revealed that due to the wave of immigration, restructuring and layoffs, it is difficult to find a job in some industries, even if you are a skilled technician.
"A lot of job seekers are actually not satisfied with their current jobs and are looking for better development opportunities, better corporate culture and higher paying positions. ”
It was not a total rout
"Social media works better than ads"
But Van Syp also said that while the market is not doing well and some companies have gone bankrupt, the downturn has not affected all sectors – including civil, manufacturing and production sectors are still hiring.
Positions such as nurses, doctors and turn-to-health professionals, accountants, administrative/payroll clerks, project managers, HR talents, and health workers remain in demand.
John Watson, owner of scaffolding company Cobweb Scaffolding, has recently reduced the number of employees from 17 to six.
He's trying to recruit people, but it seems that New Zealanders with industry experience are moving to Australia to work for up to $65 an hour.
"I can't compete with them [Australian companies], I want to hire a Tier 2 truck driver, regardless of whether the candidate has experience in scaffolding or not, but I still can't recruit them. ”
Another shipping company was recruiting qualified technicians, but after spending money and online advertising for six weeks, no one applied.
In the end, the boss Aaron Judd took a short video and posted it on Facebook, and also launched a "200 dollar coupon for recommended talents to be hired" to attract people to interview.
Netizen: "The last government caused trouble"
In response to the severe job market in New Zealand, many netizens also expressed their opinions.
The first few replies with the most likes were all from the previous government.
"It's going to go on...... The aftermath of the Labour government's billion-dollar recession will continue for years, but there may be more difficult times before the decline is reversed......"
Some netizens suggested that this is a time when everyone should be in danger......
"I'm a veteran IT recruitment consultant, and now that the IT industry is seeing fewer jobs and more candidates, company executives are starting to re-examine which employees are loyal and reliable...... So, make sure you do your job well, or you might find yourself being made redundant soon. No jokes, this is the harsh reality. ”
Some netizens feel that the general environment in New Zealand is like this, and there is nothing to look forward to.
"A few years ago, I came home after a year of working in Australia, but I couldn't find a job in my industry at all, so I had to take benefits. The person in charge of me is the production manager of my former (defunct) owner, who says he is now in charge of 40 carpenters, as well as electricians, plumbers, engineers and other trades.
"I have a colleague who spent more than a year getting a minimum wage job in a bakery in his city, and his colleague is a qualified architect who has been working there for two years.
"A few months later I went to Queenstown to work as a dishwasher, at least I didn't have to work all day, but luckily I was single and more flexible. ”
A loss may turn out to be a gain
There are New Zealanders who were unemployed during the Covid period and now come out to say: Saion lost his horse, and he didn't know if he was blessed.
Olivia Duff, a former flight attendant at New Zealand Airlines, lost her job for seven years in the layoff, leaving her disheartened and losing direction in her life.
During the lockdown, she sewed headscarves, leashes and collars for her dogs, which quickly gained the hearts of friends and family.
Later, she posted her design on social media and received a huge response, and that's when she realized that she still had such a possibility.
Now 4 years have passed, she has opened her own pet jewelry company, which is doing very well, and is ready to develop the children's jewelry market in the future.
Some Chinese friends shared on social media that they had just been affected by the Ministry of Education's major layoffs and were laid off.
The friend said that although a colleague comforted her and said that she would try to keep her position, she still declined, saying that she was going to "focus on the translation career" in the future.
Some netizens think: Life is full of hope, and the future is created by me.
"I've been laid off five times in my career, three times from government work, but even in difficult times, I was able to find a new job in less than a week at a time.
"Even if sometimes those jobs are not what I like, it is better than sitting on a mountain of food, and I have not received a penny of benefits yet.
"The job that can be done for a lifetime is no longer there, as long as you are willing to compromise and do not pursue the so-called 'perfect' solution, there will always be work to be done. ”
Government help to find a job:
Actively reduce the number of recipients of unemployment benefits
ANZ expects New Zealand's unemployment rate to rise to 5% in 2025, while Westpac expects wage growth to slow as fewer businesses hire new workers and economic activity weakens, with retail and construction sectors performing particularly weakly, while businesses linked to the international travel market perform well.
Jacob Davies, commissioner for the Bay of Plenty area at the Ministry of Social Development, said their priority now is to get people back to work.
Starting in June, they will check on people who have been receiving unemployment benefits for more than six months and work with local social groups, the government and employers to find them jobs.
Industries covered include retail, tourism, hospitality, horticulture and healthcare, while roles include front desk, orchard workers, forklift drivers and caregivers.
In March 2023, 17,600 people in the Bay of Plenty region received unemployment benefits, and that number rose to 18,500 in March this year.
Nationwide, the number of unemployment benefit recipients increased by nearly 20,000 to 188,000 from 168,000 last year.
The Minister of Social Development and Employment, Louise Upston, said that they are working on a system of "mandatory re-application for unemployment benefits every six months", "community-based job counselling", new "non-financial sanctions" and "traffic lights" to help welfare recipients meet their work obligations.
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