Skills in the Labour Market At a Glance

Published: 31 May 2007

Description

This report highlights March 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

Skill shortage indicators in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) have risen strongly over the last six months after trending downwards since early 2005.  A shortage of labour was the main constraint on expansion for more than one in five firms in the March 2007 QSBO.

Skill shortages have risen as the demand for labour has been high and the supply of labour has been constrained leading to firms finding skilled labour increasingly difficult to find. 

There were 5% fewer newspaper job vacancies between the March 2006 quarter and the March 2007 quarter, as recorded in the Department of Labour’s Job Vacancy Monitor (JVM).

Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion

A net 41% of firms had difficulty finding skilled staff in the March 2007 quarter.  This is up from a net 29% in the December 2006 quarter.

A net 21% of firms had difficulty finding unskilled staff in the March 2007 quarter, up strongly from a net 11% in the December 2006 quarter.

A shortage of labour was the main constraint on expansion for 22% of firms at March 2007.  This figure is up from 19% measured in December 2006 and is the highest result since June 2005. 

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 March 2007.  Among the major regions, Auckland led the decline (-21%), followed by Wellington (-8%).

A decline in job vacancies was measured for all skill levels between the March 2006 and March 2007 quarters.

Outlook

Labour market conditions are expected to stay tight in the coming year.  Low unemployment and underemployment will mean available labour remains in short supply.

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 August 2007.  Reports from previous periods can be found in archive

Author or contact details

For further information please contact the Labour Market Skills team