Job Vacancy Monitoring Programme Reports
The Department of Labour is no longer publishing the monthly Job Vacancy Monitoring (JVM) figures. The decision not to publish is based on concerns that the JVM figures, which were gathered from newspaper advertisements only, may no longer be a reliable representation of labour market change because of the growth of internet advertising.
The Department is now developing a more comprehensive internet-based series and we have been discussing technical issues with a number of large internet job boards. As soon as the new system is in place, the Department will resume publication of an advertised vacancies series.
In the meantime, any inquiries should be directed to Simon Hall
Work Directions
Department of Labour
P O Box 3705
Wellington
New Zealand
(04) 915-4045
Job Vacancy Monitor - December 2007
Highly skilled vacancies rose by 10% and IT vacancies rose by 22% in December 2007 compared to a year ago. However total job vacancies fell by 4% and trades vacancies fell by 10% for the year to December 2007.
Total vacancies advertised in daily newspapers have been in steady decline since December 2004.
Quick Links
- Highly skilled jobs
- Skilled and trades jobs
- Semi-skilled and elementary jobs
- IT Jobs
- All data [ZIP 366 KB]
JVM is a monthly sample of job advertisements from 25 regional newspapers and two IT websites. JVM monitors the number of job ads in each occupational category over time, indicating changes in labour market tightness or changes in the degree of difficulty of recruiting staff.
An increase in vacancies typically indicates increased difficulty in recruiting staff, although other factors also influence the number of jobs advertised in newspapers. The Department of Labour is scoping the development of a series to include internet and community newspaper vacancies.
For more analysis and interpretation of the JVM, the Department of Labour publishes Skills in the Labour Market2 every quarter.
Total job vacancies down 4%
There were 5858 advertised job vacancies measured in December 2007, which is down 4% from twelve months ago (see Figure 1)1 .
Figure 1: Total number of vacancies

Source: Department of Labour
Data table for Fig 1
Vacancies for highly skilled jobs up 10%
Vacancies for highly skilled jobs rose by 10% to 1234 in December 2007 (see Figure 2 over). Within this category, vacancies for professionals rose by 13% and vacancies for legislators, administrators and managers rose 4%. Among professionals, vacancies for all subgroups increased, except accountants and auditors, which declined -43% (see Table 1 below).
Vacancies for skilled jobs down 10%
Vacancies for skilled jobs fell by 10% to 1242 in December 2007 compared to a year ago, continuing their steady decline since 2004 (1806).
Advertised vacancies for technicians and associate professionals declined by 9% in December 2007. Within this category, health associate professionals recorded an increase in vacancies (39%) whereas vacancies declined for all other subgroups: physical science and engineering (-28%), social work (-14%), finance and sales (-12%) and ‘other technicians and associate professionals’ (-2%).
Figure 2: Total number of vacancies, by skill level
Source: Department of Labour
Data table for Fig 2
Trades vacancies down 10%
Trades vacancies declined by 10% to 585 compared to a year ago and down from 846 in December 2004. Within this category, furniture and textile (13%), metal and machinery (7%) and food (5%) all had increased vacancies. Vacancies for printing (-33%), building (-20%) and electrical and electronics (-15%) declined.
Vacancies for semi-skilled and elementary jobs down by 6%
Semi-skilled/elementary job advertisements declined by 6% to 3319 in December 2007, compared to a year ago, and down from 3719 in December 2004. This fall was driven by declines in advertised vacancies for service and sales workers (-15%) and clerks (-13%). Elementary workers (8%), agriculture and fishery workers (6%) and plant and machine operators and assemblers (6%) had increased vacancies.
IT vacancies up 22%
IT job advertisements grew by 22% to 1206 from December 2006 to December 2007. Figure 3 shows the increases in IT vacancies in December for the three largest regions, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Figure 3: Number of IT vacancies, by region
Source: Department of Labour
Data table for Fig 3
