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: 28 November 2007
Description
This report highlights September 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 [64 KB, 6 pages]
Summary
The nature and extent of skill shortages are both largely unchanged since the previous Skills in the Labour Market report in August 2007. Skill shortage indicators in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) remained high in the September 2007 quarter with firms continuing to report significant difficulty finding both skilled and unskilled labour.
The unemployment rate fell to a new record low of 3.5% in the September 2007 quarter while the participation rate dropped to 68.3%. With net permanent and long-term migration also falling over 2007, employers have had to recruit from a shrinking pool of available labour. The number of people unemployed longer than six months fell to a 20-year low which indicates that the majority of unemployment is now likely to be frictional.
The Department of Labour’s Job Vacancy Monitor (JVM) showed that advertised job vacancies in the September 2007 quarter were 1% higher than a year earlier.
Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion
A net 41% of firms had difficulty finding skilled staff in the September 2007 quarter. This is similar to a net 42% in the June 2007 quarter.
A net 19% of firms had difficulty finding unskilled staff in the September 2007 quarter, down from a net 26% in the June 2007 quarter.
A shortage of labour was the main constraint on expansion for 20% of firms at September 2007. This figure is similar to the 19% measured in June 2007.
| Jun 07 | Sep 07 | |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled staff difficultya | 42 | 41 |
| Unskilled staff difficultya | 26 | 19 |
| Labour constraintb | 19 | 20 |
| Job vacanciesc | -1 | 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 a 1% increase in advertised vacancies in New Zealand over the year to September 2007. Among the major regions, vacancies in Auckland continued to decline (-20%) followed by Wellington (-9%).
An increase in vacancies for both highly skilled occupations and semi-skilled/elementary occupations was measured over the year to September 2007. While a decline in job vacancies was measured for skilled occupations, the size of this annual decline (-1%) was minimal and the smallest for two and a half years.
Outlook
The labour market is expected to remain tight over the coming year. The unemployment rate is at a record low and is forecast to stay below 4.0% in the coming year and a half. With labour in short supply, skill and labour shortages are set to remain at high levels over the coming year.
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 February 2008. Reports from previous periods can be found in archive
Author or contact details
For further information please contact the Labour Market Skills team