Skill Shortages: Occupations in Shortage in New Zealand
6 Shortages for professionals
The overall fill rate for professional vacancies in 2007 was 54%. Fill rates were calculated for 25 individual professional occupations in 2007 of which 22 (88%) were in shortage, including six (24%) in extreme shortage.
Physical, mathematical, and engineering science professionals
Physical, mathematical, and engineering science professionals (NZSCO sub-major group 21) remain on the margin of severe and extreme shortage, with a 43% fill rate in 2007. This result is similar to the 2006 result of 41%.
Structural engineers (16%), other mechanical engineers (12%), and other civil engineers (10%) remain in extreme shortage in 2007 (see Figure 6). Architects were on the margin of severe and extreme shortage with only 40% of vacancies filled.
Figure 6: Fill rates for physical, mathmetatical, and engineering science professionals, 2007
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are omitted from this graph.
Skill shortages for computer applications engineers have eased considerably, with the fill rate increasing from 44% in 2006 to 78% in 2007 (see Figure 7).
Fill rates for systems managers and resource management planners have increased since 2005 by 38 and 25 percentage points, respectively. However, the extreme shortage of other mechanical engineers in 2005 has worsened from a 28% fill rate to only 12% in 2007.
| NZSCO code | NZSCO description | Fill rate | 2007 vacancies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 (%) | 2006 (%) | 2007 (%) | JVM (no.) | Sample (no.) | ||
| 21 | Physical, mathematical, and engineering science professionals total | 45 | 41 | 43 | 954 | 265 |
| 21311 | Systems analyst | 67 | 51 | 64 | 117 | 33 |
| 21312 | Computer applications engineer | 78 | 44 | 78 | 118 | 36 |
| 21313 | Systems manager | 46 | 85 | 84 | 47 | 19 |
| 213 | Computing professionals subtotal | 68 | 53 | 73 | 282 | 88 |
| 21411 | Architect | - | 39 | 40 | 81 | 15 |
| 21412 | Resource management planner | 28 | 52 | 53 | 82 | 17 |
| 21425 | Structural engineer | 18 | 0 | 16 | 51 | 25 |
| 21426 | Other civil engineer | - | 13 | 10 | 101 | 29 |
| 21455 | Other mechanical engineer | 28 | 26 | 12 | 68 | 26 |
| 214 | Architects, engineers, and related professionals subtotal | 20 | 32 | 31 | 639 | 164 |
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are not shown in the table. Caution is needed when interpreting fill rates based on small sample sizes (see Appendix B for further discussion of sample errors). Some (sub)totals may exceed the sum of the rows above as they include data from occupations not shown in the table.
Life science and health professionals
Life science and health professionals (NZSCO sub-major group 22) remain in severe shortage in 2007, with about half the advertised vacancies being filled. Note that due to small sample sizes, fill rates were calculated for only 3 of the 21 individual occupations within this sub-major group in 2007.
Fewer than half of all vacancies for registered nurses (48%) and principal nurses (44%) were filled in 2007, indicating severe shortages in these occupations (see Figure 8).
Skill shortages for psychiatric nurses have eased markedly since 2005, from only 13% of vacancies filled to 69% filled in 2007.
| NZSCO code | NZSCO description | Fill rate | 2007 vacancies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 (%) | 2006 (%) | 2007 (%) | JVM (no.) | Sample (no.) | ||
| 22 | Life science and health professionals total | 33 | 54 | 49 | 1,221 | 213 |
| 221 | Life science professionals subtotal | 91 | 64 | 71 | 80 | 18 |
| 222 | Health professionals (except nursing) subtotal | 37 | 41 | 39 | 74 | 23 |
| 22311 | Principal nurse | 58 | 50 | 44 | 65 | 27 |
| 22312 | Registered nurse | 30 | 54 | 48 | 908 | 108 |
| 22313 | Psychiatric nurse | 13 | 44 | 69 | 26 | 16 |
| 223 | Nursing and midwifery professionals subtotal | 30 | 54 | 48 | 1,067 | 172 |
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are not shown in the table. Caution is needed when interpreting fill rates based on small sample sizes (see Appendix B for further discussion of sample errors). Some (sub)totals may exceed the sum of the rows above as they include data from occupations not shown in the table.
Teaching professionals
In 2007 teaching professionals (NZSCO sub-major group 23) were on the margin between moderate and severe shortage, with 62% of vacancies being filled. Note that fill rates could only be calculated for 4 of the 10 individual occupations within this sub-major group due to small sample sizes in 2007.
Early childhood teachers (40%) were on the margin between severe and extreme shortage in 2007. Tertiary teaching professionals and secondary school teachers showed moderate shortages. In contrast, primary school teachers showed no shortage with nearly 9 out of 10 vacancies being filled in 2007. Figure 9 shows fill rates for teaching professionals in 2007.
Figure 9: Fill rates for teaching professionals 2007
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are omitted from this graph.
In 2005 tertiary teaching professions showed a severe shortage (48%), which eased to a moderate shortage (72%) by 2007 (see Figure 10).
| NZSCO code | NZSCO Description | Fill rate | 2007 vacancies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 (%) | 2006 (%) | 2007 (%) | JVM (no.) | Sample (no.) | ||
| 23 | Teaching professionals total | 61 | 66 | 62 | 1,070 | 257 |
| 23111 | University and higher education lecturer and/or tutor | 48 | 63 | 72 | 242 | 61 |
| 231 | Tertiary teaching professionals subtotal | 48 | 63 | 72 | 242 | 61 |
| 23211 | Secondary school teacher | 83 | 70 | 64 | 149 | 28 |
| 232 | Secondary teaching professionals subtotal | 83 | 70 | 64 | 149 | 28 |
| 23311 | Primary school teacher | 100 | 89 | 87 | 200 | 45 |
| 23321 | Early childhood teacher | 43 | 46 | 40 | 357 | 96 |
| 233 | Primary and early childhood teaching professionals subtotal | 62 | 63 | 56 | 564 | 142 |
| 234 | Special education teaching professionals subtotal | 67 | 75 | 63 | 63 | 17 |
Source: Department of Labour, 2008
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are not shown in the table. Caution is needed when interpreting fill rates based on small sample sizes (see Appendix B for further discussion of sample errors). Some (sub)totals may exceed the sum of the rows above as they include data from occupations not shown in the table.
Other professionals
Other professionals (NZSCO sub-major group 24) continued to be in severe shortage overall in 2007, with just under 6 out of every 10 such vacancies being filled.
Most individual occupations within this sub-major group were also in shortage in 2007, with psychologists (20%) and auditors (30%) showing extreme shortage (see Figure 11). In contrast, public relations officers were not in shortage, with 9 out of 10 of such vacancies being filled within 10 weeks of advertising.
Employers had some difficulty in finding suitable barristers and solicitors (fill rate 58%) and market research analysts (fill rate 56%), both of which were on the margin between moderate and severe shortage in 2007. Accountants (fill rate 49%), financial advisers (fill rate 46%), and policy analysts (fill rate 45%) were in severe shortage in 2007.
Figure 11: Fill rates for other professionals, 2007
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are omitted from this graph.
Suitably qualified and experienced financial advisers already appeared to be in shortage in 2006 and have become increasingly difficult for employers to find in 2007. The fill rate for financial advisers declined 22 percentage points between 2006 and 2007, to 46% (see Figure 12). However, the 2007 figure is an improvement on 2005 (fill rate 28%).
Training and development officers and public relations officers were both in shortage in 2005. However, between 2005 and 2007, fill rates for these occupations increased. Training and development officers now show only moderate shortage, and public relations officers show no shortage at all.
| NZSCO code | NZSCO description | Fill rate | 2007 vacancies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 (%) | 2006 (%) | 2007 (%) | JVM (no.) | Sample (no.) | ||
| 22 | Other professionals total | 33 | 58 | 57 | 1,529 | 404 |
| 24111 | Accountant | 60 | 61 | 49 | 401 | 73 |
| 24113 | Auditor | - | 18 | 30 | 47 | 30 |
| 24121 | Human resources officer | 58 | 63 | 65 | 156 | 34 |
| 24122 | Training and development officer | 55 | 85 | 76 | 89 | 25 |
| 24131 | Market research analyst | 62 | 65 | 56 | 65 | 25 |
| 24132 | Public relations officer | 55 | 77 | 90 | 89 | 19 |
| 24133 | Financial adviser | 28 | 68 | 46 | 117 | 41 |
| 241 | Business professionals subtotal | 52 | 60 | 57 | 1,030 | 256 |
| 24211 | Barrister and solicitor | 45 | 60 | 58 | 101 | 19 |
| 242 | Legal professionals subtotal | 48 | 62 | 68 | 136 | 23 |
| 243 | Archivists, librarians, and related information professionals subtotal | 65 | 71 | 88 | 44 | 8 |
| 24422 | Policy analyst | 53 | 36 | 45 | 176 | 64 |
| 24441 | Psychologist | - | 30 | 20 | 37 | 25 |
| 244 | Social and related science professionals subtotal | 61 | 47 | 49 | 318 | 117 |
Note: Occupations for which fewer than 10 employers were interviewed in the SERA are not shown in the table. Caution is needed when interpreting fill rates based on small sample sizes (see Appendix B for further discussion of sample errors). Some (sub)totals may exceed the sum of the rows above as they include data from occupations not shown in the table.