Labour Market Reports
Skills in the Labour Market At a Glance
Published: 28 February 2008
Description
This report highlights December 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 [64KB, 6 pages]
Summary
Skill shortage indicators in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) increased in the December 2007 quarter with firms continuing to report significant difficulty finding both skilled and unskilled labour.
The deepening of skill and labour shortages appears to be the result of strong demand for labour outstripping growth in the supply of labour. Employment growth was strong in the December 2007 quarter at 1.1% which helped cause the unemployment rate to fall to a new record low of 3.4%. This means that the number of people available and actively seeking work, that employers can easily hire, is very limited at present.
Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion
A net 46% of firms had difficulty finding skilled staff in the December 2007 quarter. This is up from to a net 41% in the September 2007 quarter.
A net 33% of firms had difficulty finding unskilled staff in the December 2007 quarter, up strongly from a net 19% in the September 2007 quarter.
A shortage of labour was the main constraint on expansion for 21% of firms at December 2007. This figure is similar to the 20% measured in September 2007.
Sep 07 |
Dec 07 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Skilled staff difficultya | 41 | 46 |
| Unskilled staff difficultya | 19 | 33 |
| Labour constraintb | 20 | 21 |
| Job vacanciesc | 1 | -4 |
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
In contrast to other indicators, the Department of Labour’s Job Vacancy Monitor (JVM) showed that advertised job vacancies in the December 2007 quarter were 4% lower than a year earlier. Changes in recruitment practices and increased use of the internet to advertise jobs appear to account for the majority of the gap between vacancy counts in the JVM and other economic and labour market indicators.
The reported 4% fall in total vacancies was driven by falls in vacancies for skilled and semi-skilled/elementary occupations of 10% and 6% respectively. In contrast a 10% increase in vacancies for highly skilled occupations was measured over the year to December 2007.
Outlook
Labour market conditions will remain tight over 2008. The unemployment rate is currently at a record low and has now been below 4% for three and a half years. Firms are struggling to find workers across the skill spectrum and positive employment intentions in both the QSBO and the National Bank Business Outlook suggest that there will be no easing in labour demand over the short-term. With available labour in short supply, skill and labour shortages are set to remain a major issue in the New Zealand economy. In this context, raising the productivity of the workforce is even more crucial to maintaining economic growth.
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 May 2008. Reports from previous periods can be found in archive
Author or contact details
For further information please contact the Labour Market Skills team on info@dol.govt.nz