SEEK NZ stats show it’s a good time to be working in ICT

Seek recently released data that reveals they had almost 5 percent more jobs advertised in July 2016 than 12 months earlier. The top advertised industry? Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

SEEK New Zealand general manager, Janet Faulder says the progress is encouraging, for all of New Zealand.

"The most in-demand skills on SEEK for the ICT industry at present are Developers/Programmers, Business/Systems Analysts, Programme - Project Management and Help Desk - IT Support," says Faulding. "However, we've seen demand cool off for Team Leaders, Hardware Engineers, Technical Writers and Computer Operators.

According to Faulding, a likely driver of the job growth for the ICT sector is New Zealand's exporting culture.

"NZ companies are now tapping into the overseas markets to grow their businesses, plus investing in new technology and infrastructure to be competitive, and consequently they require ICT talent to help them thrive," Faulding says.

Auckland job ads on SEEK grew 5.4 percent over the year to July 2016, while Wellington grew 4.5 percent.

"It's great to see the continued improvement of the Wellington job market after a period of weakness earlier this year and last year," says Faulding. "Our capital is becoming more attractive to overseas companies. Last month the Australian department store David Jones opened their doors in Wellington and international fashion retail giants Zara and H-M are rumoured to follow, which only creates more jobs.

Canterbury still remains New Zealand's weakest major region, with job ads down a whopping 12.6 percent year-on-year.

"The Canterbury labour market has been subdued since March 2015, almost 18 months," says Faulding.  "The job market in this region was supported by the earthquake rebuild, however with that slowing we've seen low year on year job ad volumes.

So it's all good news for New Zealanders working in the ICT industry (particularly Auckland and Wellington), as following the ancient rules of economics, the increased demand will in theory sway the market in favour of the employees, making jobs more accessible.