Appendix 2 : Sample Profile
Respondent profile - employers survey
Workplace Profile
Size of the organisation
As detailed in Figure 1 below, almost two-thirds of the businesses (61 percent) that were surveyed reported having 20 or fewer employees, including 24 percent that had fewer than 5 employees and 25 percent that had between 5 and 10 employees. In contrast 26 percent of all workplaces spoken to had greater than 50 employees, with 17 percent reporting greater than 100 permanent and part-time staff.
Figure 1: Number of permanent staff (n=1100)
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
In total, 61 percent of all organisations that were surveyed can be defined as SMEs[1] . When viewed by Industry type, it was found that 75 percent of businesses involved in the Accommodation, Restaurants and Café sector were SMEs. Similarly, 68 percent of surveyed businesses involved in the Retail Trade sector and 73 percent those in the Construction industry were SMEs.
Those enterprises that were less likely to be SMEs included businesses in the Education sector, (52 percent of which had fewer than 20 employees), Government, Administration and Defence related enterprises (52 percent), and organisations involved in Manufacturing (46 percent). Manufacturing enterprises were also more likely to report having greater than 100 staff (31 percent compared with 17 percent of all businesses surveyed).
There were no significant differences in relation to the number of employees when viewed by region.
Type of workplace
As shown in the table at the end of this section (Table 4), 63 percent of the workplaces that were surveyed were stand-alone businesses, while 36 percent of the workplaces were part of a larger enterprise or organisation, with greater than one physical site.
Smaller enterprises that participated in the survey were more likely to be stand-alone businesses, with 82 percent of those with fewer than five staff members and 74 percent of those with between five and ten staff belonging to this category.
Organisations with greater than 20 staff members were more likely to be a part of a larger organisation, as opposed to a stand-alone business, with between 56 and 61 percent of businesses with greater than 20 staff belonging to this category. In relation to these findings, when viewed by industry type some significant differences can be seen with:
- Construction firms being more likely to be a stand-alone enterprise (81 percent)
- Government, Administration and Defence organisations being more likely to be part of a larger organisation (80 percent)
- Education (58 percent) and Manufacturing (53 percent) related organisations also being more likely to be part of a larger organisation, rather than a stand-alone enterprise.
Location
Over one quarter (28 percent) of all businesses surveyed were based in Auckland, with a further 15 percent being based in Christchurch and 12 percent in Wellington. The rest of the North Island accounted for 31 percent of all businesses surveyed, while 14 percent of the surveyed businesses were based in areas of the South Island other than Christchurch.
For a detailed breakdown of the number and types of businesses surveyed from each geographical region, including their industry type and number of employees please refer to Appendix B of this report.
Union membership and industry associations
Twenty-three percent of the employers who were surveyed reported that that some of their employees were members of a union, while 72 percent said that none of their staff were union members, and a small number were unsure.
The survey found that there was also a relationship between the size of the organisation and whether or not some of its employees were members of a union:
- Sixty-five percent of organisations with more than 100 staff members reported having some staff who were currently union members.
- Whereas, nine percent of organisations with between five and ten staff, and only four percent of organisations with fewer than five staff, employed members of a union.
Certain industry types were also more likely to have staff members who were members of a union.
- Education (84 percent of all such enterprises surveyed)
- Government, Administration and Defence (78 percent)
- Health and Community Services (43 percent)
- Manufacturing (41 percent).
While the following types of business enterprises were less likely to report a union presence:
- Retail Trade (15 percent)
- Construction (14 percent)
- Property and Business Services (13 percent)
- Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants (13 percent).
Of note, in relation to union membership among staff, the only significant regional difference found was that, at 40 percent, Otago-based organisations were more likely to have a union member in the workplace than the total sample of businesses.
More than half (51 percent) of the businesses that were surveyed reported that they were affiliated with a Trade or Industry organisation, while 20 percent belonged to an Employers and Manufacturers Association. Roughly one fifth of the respondents (19 percent), however, said their business did not have any trade or industry affiliations. When viewed by business demographics:
- Forty-nine percent of businesses with fewer than five staff reported that they were part of a Trade or Industry organisation, while almost a third (32 percent) of such businesses reported that they had no trade or industry affiliations.
- Larger employers were more likely to be involved with an Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), with thirty-eight percent of those businesses having between 51 and 100 staff and 48 percent of those with greater than 100 staff being members of an EMA.
- The main significant differences when viewed by industry type were:
- Businesses involved in Manufacturing were more likely to be associated with an EMA (36 percent) and less likely to be a part of a Trade Organisation (38 percent).
- Workplaces in the Education sector were more likely to report having an association with a Trade Union (24 percent).
- Businesses in the Property and Business sector were more likely to be a member of a Chamber of Commerce (26 percent).
| Base | Total 1100 | Less than 5
262 |
Between 5 and 10
280 |
Between 11 and 20
133 |
Between 21 and 50
142 |
Between 51 and 100 99 |
More than 100
184 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of workplace | |||||||
| Stand-alone business | 63% | 82% | 74% | 73% | 43% | 41% | 38% |
| Part of a larger enterprise/organisation | 36% | 17% | 26% | 27% | 57% | 56% | 61% |
| Other | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Don't Know | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Industry | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 10% | 8% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 16% | 20% |
| Construction | 13% | 17% | 13% | 17% | 15% | 6% | 7% |
| Wholesale Trade | 8% | 9% | 4% | 11% | 13% | 7% | 7% |
| Retail Trade | 16% | 21% | 18% | 11% | 6% | 20% | 16% |
| Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants | 8% | 11% | 10% | 6% | 8% | 5% | 3% |
| Transport, Storage and Communication Services | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 7% |
| Finance and Insurance | 6% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 5% | 8% | 8% |
| Property and Business Services | 16% | 14% | 17% | 16% | 15% | 15% | 20% |
| Government, Administration and Defence | 5% | 3% | 6% | 2% | 6% | 4% | 7% |
| Education | 5% | 1% | 4% | 9% | 12% | 5% | 1% |
| Health and Community Services | 8% | 6% | 10% | 8% | 7% | 8% | 7% |
| Location | Auckland | 28% | 24% | 25% | 21% | 36% | 30% | 37% |
| Wellington - Wairarapa | 12% | 12% | 14% | 11% | 10% | 15% | 11% |
| Rest of North Island | 31% | 36% | 35% | 38% | 24% | 21% | 21% |
| Canterbury | 15% | 10% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 18% | 19% |
| Rest of South Island | 14% | 18% | 12% | 14% | 12% | 15% | 12% |
| Don't know | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
| Union Membership | |||||||
| Yes | 23% | 4% | 9% | 17% | 32% | 35% | 65% |
| No | 72% | 92% | 84% | 77% | 68% | 57% | 33% |
| There is no union | 2% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 0% | 5% | 0% |
| Don't know | 3% | 4% | 3% | 5% | 0% | 3% | 2% |
| Industry Associations | |||||||
| Chamber of Commerce | 15% | 7% | 14% | 21% | 18% | 29% | 17% |
| An Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) | 20% | 4% | 11% | 14% | 31% | 37% | 48% |
| A trade or industry organisation | 51% | 49% | 58% | 53% | 52% | 39% | 46% |
| Business New Zealand | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| NZ Institute of Management (NZIM) | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 8% |
| An Industry Training Organisation | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 6% |
| Equal Employment Opportunities Trust | 1% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| Trade Unions | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 6% | 5% | 7% |
| Other | 7% | 6% | 7% | 4% | 11% | 10% | 8% |
| None | 20% | 32% | 20% | 24% | 13% | 9% | 9% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 7% | 9% | 8% | 6% | 17% | 10% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Total for Industry Associations may exceed 100% because of multiple response.
Respondents’ profile
In relation to the characteristics of the respondents at those businesses that were surveyed, as detailed in Figure 2 below 35 percent of the respondents stated that they were the owner of the business, while 29 percent said that they were the General Manager or Managing Director. A further 19 percent were the Human Resources Manager, while nine percent identified themselves as being the Operations Manager.
Figure 2: Respondents’ position within the organisation (n=1100)
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
In relation to the respondents’ main roles and the sizes of the business (Table 5), the survey found that those who reported themselves as working in a smaller business (as measured by the number of employees) were also more likely to be the business owner than was found for the total sample:
- Sixty-three percent of respondents from firms with fewer than five staff members reported that they were the business owner.
- Forty-five percent of those from organisations with between five and ten staff reported that they were the business owner.
Whereas, just 18 percent of the respondents from organisations with between 21 and 50 staff, nine percent of those with between 51 and 100, and only two percent of those from organisations with greater than 100 staff said that they were the business owner.
Relatedly, at 75 percent respondents from organisations with greater than 100 staff or between 51 and 100 staff (43 percent) were more likely to be the organisation’s Human Resources Manager, whereas those from enterprises with between 21 and 50 staff were more likely to be the General Manager or Managing Director (42 percent).
| Total 1100 | Less than 5 262 |
Between 5 and 10 280 | Between 11 and 20 133 | Between 21 and 50 142 | Between 51 and 100 99 | More than 100 184 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business owner | 35% | 63% | 45% | 38% | 18% | 9% | 2% |
| General Manager/Managing Director | 29% | 22% | 35% | 39% | 42% | 28% | 15% |
| Finance/Accounts Manager | 4% | 3% | 4% | 6% | 11% | 2% | 3% |
| Operations Manager | 9% | 5% | 10% | 15% | 14% | 14% | 5% |
| Human Resource Manager | 19% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 14% | 43% | 75% |
| Other | 3% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 4% | 0% |
When viewed by industry type, respondents from the following sectors were more likely to be the owner of the business, when compared with the total sample:
- Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants (53 percent)
- Retail Trade (51 percent)
- Construction (49 percent).
Whereas respondents from the Education and Health and Community sectors were more likely to be the General Manager/Managing Director (54 and 48 percent respectively), and those working in Manufacturing were more likely to identify themselves as being the organisation’s Human Resource Manager (39 percent).
Respondent profile – employees survey
This section of the report details provides a summary demographic profile of the respondents to the employees survey.
For the demographics profile respondents were questioned about their age, ethnicity, marital status, household structure and caring responsibilities. In addition, information about respondent’s personal and household income and the region in which they live was gathered.
Gender, age and ethnicity
As detailed in Table 6, 58 percent of the respondents to the survey were women and 42 percent were men.
The majority of respondents reported being aged 30 to 39 years (21 percent), 40 to 49 years (29 percent) and 50 to 59 years (24 percent). Relatively few (just three percent) were aged 18 to 19 years or younger, though this may be in part a reflection of the eligibility criteria for participation in the survey (to participate in the survey respondents needed to be working ten hours per week or greater for wages or salary, and many New Zealanders in the 18 to 19 years old age group are known to be studying full-time, and thus less likely to be working as many hours per work than people who are not in full-time study).
Sixty-five percent of respondents reported being of European descent, while 11 percent were Maori, and eight percent identified as being a Pacific person.
Household structure and caring responsibilities
Sixty-two percent of the respondents were from family households with children, while another 21 percent were part of an older couple with no children living at home.
Seventy-seven percent of the respondents reported that they were married or living with a partner, while nine percent said they were separated, divorced or widowed, and another 14 percent have never been married.
While 52 percent of respondents did not have any caring responsibilities, 42 percent said that they were caring for children and nine percent had caring responsibility for an adult. Notably, males were significantly more likely to report not having any caring responsibilities (55 percent compared with 49 percent of women reporting this).
Carers were also significantly more likely to report being married or living with a partner (85 percent) whereas at 70 percent, non-carers were significantly less likely to report being in a relationship.
Region and size of community
Roughly one quarter of the achieved survey sample were residing in the South Island (12 percent in Canterbury), while almost half of those surveyed were living in either the Auckland (25 percent) or Wellington/Wairarapa (22 percent) regions.
Reflecting the large numbers of respondents from Auckland, Canterbury and the Wellington/Wairarapa regions, 62 percent of the employees who were surveyed were living in a large town or city (30,000 or greater in population), while 15 percent reported living in a medium-sized town (10,000 to 29,999) population and another 22 percent lived in either a small town (1,000 to 9,999 in population) or rural area (less than 1,000 in population).
Income levels
When asked about their personal income, 59 percent of those surveyed reported earning less than $50,000 per annum before taxes, with men being significantly more likely to report earning greater than $60,000 per annum before taxes (41 percent) than women (13%) who were more likely to report earning between $10,000 and $20,000 (12 percent compared with three percent of men) or between $20,000 and $30,000 (18 percent compared with eight percent of men).
Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed reported having household incomes of $60,000 per annum before taxes, or greater, with there being no statistically significant differences between male and female respondents other than, at four percent women were significantly more likely to report a household income before taxes of between $10,000 and $20,000, compared with just two percent of males reporting this.
| Base | Total 1004 | Male 410 | Female 410 | Have caring responsibilities 491 | No caring responsibilities 513 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender: | |||||
| Male | 42% | - | - | 38% | 45% |
| Female | 58% | - | - | 62% | 55% |
| Caring responsibilities^: | |||||
| Child or children | 42% |
39% | 44% | - | - |
| Another person other than a child | 9% | 7% | 11% | - | - |
| Other | 1% | 1% | 1% | - | - |
| None | 52% |
55% | 49% | - | - |
| Don't Know | 0% | 0% | 0% | - | - |
| Age: | |||||
| 15-17 years | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| 18-19 years | 2% | 3% | 1% | 0% | 4% |
| 20-29 years | 12% | 11% | 12% | 8% | 15% |
| 30-39 years | 21% | 19% | 22% | 30% | 12% |
| 40-49 years | 30% | 39% | 31% | 40% | 21% |
| 50-59 years | 24% | 23% | 25% | 16% | 31% |
| 60-69 years | 10% | 13% | 9% | 5% | 15% |
| 70 years and over | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Ethnicity^: | |||||
| NZ European (or Pakeha) | 65% | 62% | 67% | 63% | 66% |
| Maori | 11% | 10% | 12% | 13% | 9% |
| Pacific peoples | 8% | 9% | 8% | 8% | 9% |
| Chinese | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Japanese | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Indian | 6% | 7% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Other Asian | 6% | 7% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Other European | 4% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| New Zealander/Kiwi | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Other ethnic group | 4% | 6% | 2% | 4% | 4% |
| Household structure: | |||||
| Young couple without children | 6% | 5% | 6% | 1% | 10% |
| Family household with youngest child under 5 | 14% | 14% | 14% | 25% | 4% |
| Family household with youngest child 5 to 15 | 26% | 27% | 26% | 44% | 10% |
| Family household with youngest child over 15 | 22% | 18% | 24% | 19% | 24% |
| Older couple - no children or none living at home | 21% | 23% | 19% | 6% | 34% |
| Single/one person household | 7% | 7% | 8% | 3% | 11% |
| Flat/shared household - not a family household | 3% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 4% |
| Other | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Refused | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Marital status: | |||||
| Married/living with partner | 77% | 70% | 76% | 85% | 70% |
| Separated, divorced, widowed | 9% | 6% | 11% | 9% | 9% |
| Never married | 14% | 15% | 13% | 6% | 21% |
| Refused | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Region: | |||||
| Auckland | 25% | 27% | 23% | 24% | 26% |
| Wellington-Wairarapa | 22% | 22% | 22% | 23% | 21% |
| Rest of North Island | 30% | 26% | 33% | 31% | 29% |
| Canterbury | 30% | 26% | 33% | 31% | 29% |
| Rest of South Island | 11% | 12% | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| Don't know | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Area type: | |||||
| Rural area (under 1,000 population) | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 7% |
| A small town (1,000-9,999 population) | 15% | 15% | 15% | 14% | 16% |
| A medium-sized town (10,000-29,999 population) | 15% | 15% | 15% | 17% | 13% |
| A large town or city (30,000 or more population) | 62% | 62% | 62% | 62% | 62% |
| Don't know | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Personal income: | |||||
| Under $10,000 | 5% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 5% |
| $10,000 but less than $20,000 | 8% | 3% | 12% | 10% | 7% |
| $20,000 but less than $30,000 | 14% | 8% | 18% | 15% | 13% |
| $30,000 but less than $40,000 | 16% | 14% | 17% | 14% | 18% |
| $40,000 but less than $50,000 | 16% | 15% | 16% | 17% | 14% |
| $50,000 but less than $60,000: | 12% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 13% |
| $60,000 but less than $70,000 | 9% | 12% | 7% | 8% | 9% |
| $70,000 but less than $80,000 | 6% | 9% | 3% | 5% | 6% |
| $80,000 but less than $90,000 | 4% | 7% | 1% | 3% | 4% |
| $90,000 but less than $100,000 | 2% | 4% | 1% | 3% | 2% |
| $100,000 or more | 4% | 9% | 1% | 5% | 4% |
| Don't Know | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Refused | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Household income*: | |||||
| Under $10,000 | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| $10,000 but less than $20,000 | 3% | 2% | 4% | 2% | 4% |
| $20,000 but less than $30,000 | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 6% |
| $30,000 but less than $40,000 | 9% | 9% | 9% | 7% | 10% |
| $40,000 but less than $50,000 | 9% | 10% | 8% | 8% | 10% |
| $50,000 but less than $60,000: | 9% | 11% | 8% | 8% | 10% |
| $60,000 but less than $70,000 | 10% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 9% |
| $70,000 but less than $80,000 | 9% | 8% | 10% | 12% | 7% |
| $80,000 but less than $90,000 | 8% | 8% | 7% | 8% | 7% |
| $90,000 but less than $100,000 | 7% | 8% | 7% | 9% | 6% |
| $100,000 or more | 23% | 23% | 23% | 23% | 23% |
| Don't Know | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Refused | 3% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 2% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
^ Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.
* Those respondents who are married or living with a partner were asked to specify their joint/household income. For all other respondents, their household income was assumed to be equal to their personal income reported previously.
Current working environment
In this section of the report we discuss the current working environment of the respondents who participated in the employees survey.
Specifically covered are the number of jobs held by the respondents (including self-employment and unpaid work in a family business or farm), the number of hours worked (in all jobs), their main occupation and the main industry or business activity of the business where they mainly work and whether they are members of a union. Also covered are respondents’ ratings of their work-life balance at present and how easy or difficult it is for them to ‘get the balance right’.
At the end of the relevant sub-sections we provide a summary of statistically significant differences between the survey respondents when viewed by their demographic characteristics.
Workplace Profile
Number of jobs worked
As detailed in Figure 3 below, 90 percent of the respondents reported having only one job, while ten percent had two or more jobs. In relation to the latter finding, the survey also found that three percent of the respondents were also currently self-employed or owned a business in addition to working for wages and salary in another business. One percent mentioned that they also worked without pay in a family business or farm.
Figure 2: Respondents’ position within the organisation (n=1100)
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
There were few differences in relation to the number of jobs held when viewed by the respondents demographic characteristics, with the exceptions that:
- Male respondents were significantly more likely to report having just one job (93 percent) compared with 88 percent of women.
- Similarly, and reflecting the fact that women were more likely to have caring responsibilities than were men, those respondents who said that they have caring responsibilities were less likely to report having only one job (88 percent compared with 92 percent of respondents with no such responsibilities).
Number of hours worked
As noted previously, all respondents to the employers survey were currently working at least ten hours per week for wages or a salary. As detailed in Figure 4:
- Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said that they work between 30 and 50 hours per week (68 percent)
- Twenty-two percent reported working part-time (less than 30 hours per week)
- While eight percent said that they worked greater than 50 hours a week.
Figure 4: Total hours of work (n=1004)
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
When viewed by their various demographic characteristics, the survey found that those respondents aged 60 years or older were more likely to report they worked part-time (34 percent compared with 22 percent of all respondents) and less likely to report working 30 to 50 hours per week (55 percent compared with 68 percent). Though this finding may reflect the fact, being closer to retirement age, many older respondents may have begun cutting back on the number of hours that they worked.
Despite the finding that they were more likely to report having more than one job, those respondents with caring responsibilities were also more likely to report that they worked part-time (25 percent compared with 18 percent of those with no caring responsibilities) and less likely to say they were working 30 to 50 hours per week (65 percent compared with 72 percent of non-carers).
Similarly, reflecting the earlier finding that women were more likely than men to have carer responsibilities, female respondents were also more likely to say that they worked part-time (31 percent compared with nine percent of men). In contrast, men were more likely to say that they worked 30 to 50 hours per week (76 percent compared with 63 percent of women) or 50 hours or more (14 percent compared with four percent of women).
Occupation
In relation to the type of work they were currently doing in their main job, most frequently the respondents’ main occupations fell into the professional (29 percent), legislator, administrator, corporate manager (18 percent) or service and sales workers (16 percent) classifications.
As detailed in Table 7, there were a large number of significant differences in relation to the respondents’ main occupation, when the results were viewed by gender.
| Base= | Total 1004 | Male 410 | Female 594 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | 29% | 23% | 32% |
| Legislator, administrator, corporate manager | 18% | 14% | 21% |
| Service and sales workers | 16% | 14% | 19% |
| Labourers and other service workers | 10% | 14% | 8% |
| Technicians and associate professionals | 9% | 12% | 7% |
| Building trade, metal and machinery trade or other craft trade workers | 6% | 14% | 1% |
| Clerk | 5% | 1% | 8% |
| Plant and machine operators and assemblers | 2% | 4% | 1% |
| Agriculture and fishery workers | 2% | 3% | 1% |
| Other | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Similar to the findings for women (32 percent of whom were professionals), carers were more likely to report that they worked as a professional (32 percent compared with 25 percent of non-carers) and less likely to be involved in a building trade, metal and machinery trade or other craft trade (four percent compared with eight percent of non-carers).
Those respondents who reported working as professionals were asked to further clarify in which professional area they were working. In relation to this:
- While 16 percent of the sub-sample said that they worked as a physical, mathematical, engineering science professional and another 21 percent as a life science or health professional, the majority (54 percent) mentioned they worked in other professional jobs (such as teaching, legal, or business professionals).
- Male professionals were more likely to report that they worked as a physical, mathematical, or engineering science professional (29 percent compared with ten percent of women), but less likely to be working as a life science or health professional (11 percent compared with 27 percent of female professionals).
- When viewed by ethnicity, Maori professionals were more like to report that they worked as a teaching, legal, business or ‘other type’ of professionals (77 percent compared with 54 of the total sub-sample of professionals).
Figure 4: Total hours of work (n=1004)
Sub-sample based on those working as a professional. Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
In relation to the main business activity or industry of their workplace, (Table 8), most frequently the respondents’ said their workplace was in the Health and Community Services (16 percent), Education (15 percent) or Retail Trade sectors (11 percent).
Consistent with the above findings regarding the respondents’ occupations, there are also several differences between men and women in relation to their industry group. Most notably, women were significantly more likely to report that they were working in the areas of Health and Community Services (24 percent) or Education. (21 percent), compared with five and seven percent of male respondents reporting working in those sectors respectively.
Whereas men were significantly more likely than women to report that they worked in the areas of Manufacturing, Transport, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Communication Services, Construction or Wholesale Trade.
| Base= | Total 1004 | Male 410 | Female 594 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Community Services | 16% | 5% | 24% |
| Education | 15% | 7% | 21% |
| Retail Trade | 11% | 9% | 12% |
| Government Administration and Defence | 8% | 8% | 8% |
| Manufacturing | 8% | 13% | 5% |
| Hospitality (Accommodation, Cafes/Restaurants, Travel/Tourism) | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Transport and Storage | 5% | 10% | 2% |
| Finance and Insurance | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 5% | 9% | 2% |
| Communication Services | 5% | 7% | 3% |
| Construction | 4% | 8% | 1% |
| Personal and Other Services | 4% | 3% | 5% |
| Wholesale Trade | 4% | 5% | 2% |
| Property and Business Services | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Electricity, Gas and Water supply | 2% | 4% | 0% |
| Cultural and Recreation Services | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Mining | 0% | 1% | 0% |
| Don't know | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Union membership
Thirty percent of the respondents reported that they were currently members of a union at their workplace.
At 15 percent, those working as legislators, administrators, corporate managers, or service and sales workers were less likely to report being a member of a union, while those working in the professional jobs classification were more likely to be union members (47 percent compared with 30 percent of the total sample).
Men were also less likely to report being members of a union (22 percent compared with 35 percent of women), though this finding can likely be attributed, in part, to the types of industries and occupations in which the male respondents were more likely to be working in when compared with female respondents.
Respondents who were aged 50 to 59 years were also more likely to report that they were union members (39 percent compared with 30 percent of all respondents).
While a common international definition for small and medium enterprises is an organisation with fewer than 50 employees, a threshold of fewer than 20 employees is often used when discussing the New Zealand business sector, and thus has been applied to the analysis and reporting of the findings of the 2008 employers surveys.