241213. Photo Diego Opatowski / RNZ. Employment and unemployment generic photo. Photo: RNZ
The number of jobs being advertised online has fallen for this first time this year, led by a significant drop in hospitality and tourism roles, and applications per job are outstripping the roles available.
Online job portal Seek's Employment Dashboard report for April showed ads were down 16 percent nationally on the same time last year.
Construction, hospitality and tourism, and information and communication technology had the biggest decline.
There were 20 percent less hospitality and tourism roles advertised in April compared to March.
However Seek country manager Rob Clark said there were more people applying for the jobs on offer, and applications per job ad had increased 12 percent in a month.
"Applications per job ad jumped significantly in March, at a pace that outstripped the growth in job ads at the time, demonstrating a rising desire among workers for a change," he said.
"As talks of a recession continue, and the cost of living continues to increase, it appears as though many Kiwis are looking at a career change to pursue an increase in salary."
Clark said the sectors with the largest increase in ads for April, compared to March, were healthcare and medical, as well as administration and office support.
Acknowledging the drop in job ads on Seek in April, the BNZ said when looking at the broad historical context, the data was still solid and well above pre-Covid reference points.
The bank's research team said official labour data remained strong and tight in the March quarter of 2023, with an annual 2.5 percent growth in employment and the unemployment rate sitting at 3.4 percent.
"This inferred that the sharply increased net inward migration is finding its way straight into jobs, not onto welfare," the report said.
"Still, none of this is to deny businesses are reporting relatively less difficulty in finding and retaining staff, than was the case last year."
The bank noted the stark differences between job advertising in different sectors, with service-related industries, such as real estate and property continuing to lift despite reports of a slumping market.
"Government and defence remained an area of outright strength in job ads," the bank said.
"To the negative, it was notable that hospitality and tourism took another big leg lower, after its big rush upwards last year, while the gas had completely come out of information and communication technology by now."