Labour Market Reports - Archive
Skills in the Labour Market At a Glance
This section contains archived information that has been retained for reference purposes. To view current reports, please go to the Labour Market Information section.
Published: 27 August 2007
Description
This report highlights June 2007 quarter information on skill shortages, primarily drawn from the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion conducted by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research and the Department of Labour's Job Vacancy Monitor. This report is produced quarterly.
Link to full report
Skills in the Labour Market HTML | PDF [60 KB, 7 pages]
Summary
The nature and extent of skill shortages are both largely unchanged since the previous Skills in the Labour Market report in May 2007. Skill shortage indicators in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) remained high in the June 2007 quarter with firms continuing to report significant difficulty finding both skilled and unskilled labour.
The unemployment rate fell to an equal record low of 3.6% in the June 2007 quarter while the participation rate rose to a record high 68.8%. With net migration also falling over 2007, employers have had to recruit from a smaller pool of people.
While shortages have remained high there was a decrease in newspaper job vacancies with 1% fewer vacancies between the June 2006 quarter and the June 2007 quarter recorded in the Department of Labour’s Job Vacancy Monitor (JVM).
Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion
A net 42% of firms had difficulty finding skilled staff in the June 2007 quarter. This is up slightly from a net 41% in the March 2007 quarter.
A net 26% of firms had difficulty finding unskilled staff in the June 2007 quarter, up from a net 21% in the March 2007 quarter.
A shortage of labour was the main constraint on expansion for 19% of firms at June 2007. This figure is down from 22% measured in March 2007.
| Mar 07 | Jun 07 | |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled staff difficultya | 41 | 42 |
| Unskilled staff difficultya | 21 | 26 |
| Labour constraintb | 22 | 19 |
| Job vacanciesc | -5 | -1 |
a net % of firms reporting difficulty finding staff
b % of firms with labour as main constraint
c annual % change in job vacancies
Job Vacancy Monitor
The JVM showed an overall decline in vacancies in New Zealand over the year to June 2007. Among the major regions, Auckland led the decline (-23%), followed by Wellington (-10%).
An increase in vacancies for highly skilled occupations was measured for the first time in 18 months in the year to the June 2007 quarter. While a decline in job vacancies was measured for both skilled and semi-skilled/elementary occupations, the sizes of these annual declines were smaller than those recorded last quarter.
Outlook
The labour market is expected to remain very tight over the coming year as the demand for labour remains strong, economic activity is starting to rise again and unemployment is set to remain low. With labour in short supply, skill and labour shortages will remain an important issue in the New Zealand economy and there is a risk shortages could deepen further.
Related information
- The Job Vacancy Monitor
Survey of Employers who have Recently Advertised (SERA) - The Immigration Service’s Long Term Skill Shortage List
- The Immigration Service’s Immediate Skill Shortage List
Future updates
This is a regular report – the next update is due in November 2007. Reports from previous periods can be found in archive
Author or contact details
For further information please contact the Labour Market Skills team