Civil and construction projects will continue to drive recruitment in New Zealand in 2016, with a shortage of 21,000 tradespeople. Apprenticeships will also be in high demand, with an estimated need for 3,500 new apprentices per year. The tourism industry is expanding rapidly but struggling to find qualified candidates, with 50,000 extra workers needed over the next decade. Demand will also be high for accounting support, legal professionals, procurement specialists, marketing professionals with digital and analytics skills, big data experts, digital security professionals, and white collar jobs in Christchurch as the rebuild continues. Employers are also being encouraged to focus on diversity and inclusion across gender, disability, ethnicity and age.
1. TOP 12 TALENT TRENDS
FOR 2016
WHAT SHOULD BE ON
YOUR RADAR?
“Skill shortages persist across both
the white collar and blue collar
sectors and we expect this to
continue into this year.”
Jason Walker
Managing Director at Hays New Zealand
hays.net.nz Go to trends…
2. 1. NEW ZEALAND STILL VERY
MUCH IN BUILDING MODE
Civil and construction will continue to dominate
recruitment in 2016. Civil recruitment is being
driven by new land developments around the
country as well as existing building and
infrastructure projects.
For example, in construction, official figures reveal
a shortfall of at least 21,000 trades people and
labourers to work on infrastructure rebuild projects.
Even when these projects are completed, the many
infrastructure and building projects around the
country will keep candidate demand high.
It’s estimated some 30,000 tradespeople and
labourers will be needed in Auckland alone but we
expect workers moving off Christchurch projects
will meet some of this demand.
hays.net.nz Apprentices…
3. 2. APPRENTICES SUPER HOT
IN 2016
More initiatives are needed to encourage
school students and young people to choose
apprenticeships.
For example, from next year Māori and Pasifika
Trades Training (MPTT) will accept 16 and 17-
year-olds instead of only those 18 or older and a
MPTT “alumni” has been created to mentor young
trainees.
New Zealand’s aging population and the increasing
number of civil, construction, and infrastructure
projects is creating an acute shortage of
apprentices. It’s estimated the country needs 3,500
people entering apprenticeships each year – an
increase of 50 per cent on present figures.
hays.net.nz
Talent shortage…
4. 3. TALENT SHORTAGE AS
TOURISM BOOMS
New Zealand’s tourism sector employs more
than 12 per cent of the workforce and is
expanding rapidly with visitor numbers from
China alone growing by nearly 30 per cent in
the last year.
However, employers are struggling to find
candidates with the right level of professionalism.
Shortages already exist in Auckland and
Queenstown and industry figures estimate nearly
50,000 extra candidates will be needed across the
sector in the next decade.
hays.net.nz
Accounting…
5. 4. ACCOUNTING SUPPORT
Strengthening business activity will drive up
demand for accounting support candidates in
2016.
However, employers prefer candidates with
experience that matches their industry whether that
is construction, manufacturing or a service
business. We expect many employers will continue
to look for flexibility in 2016 to help them take
advantage of improving economic conditions.
The “try before you buy” approach of hiring a
candidate on a temporary basis with a view of
making them a permanent hire down the track is
here to stay. In the government sector, many
organisations are moving to share service
arrangements and therefore prefer candidates with
experience working under this model.
hays.net.nz Migration…
6. 5. MIGRATION CHANGES TO
HELP SHAPE NATION
Changes to New Zealand’s skilled migration
laws introduced in 2015 will be tested in 2016.
Under the new laws, those moving to regional
areas outside of Auckland will be awarded
greater points towards securing residency.
Government figures show New Zealand had a net
gain of 58,300 migrants in the 2014/2015 year with
half of all migrants settling in Auckland. China was
the largest source of migrants followed by India
and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, it has been
alleged that a third of work visas used by Filipinos
in NZ are fake with the fall out expected to impact
the Christchurch rebuild as well as the agricultural
sector. Of the 59,600-work visas New Zealand
approved from 1993 to 2015 most went to workers
from the Philippines.
hays.net.nz Legal eagles…
7. 6. LEGAL EAGLES FLYING HIGH
Commercial property and construction are
generating greater demand for legal services in
both Christchurch and Auckland.
Insurance claims related to the Christchurch quake
are expected to drive up demand for legal talent in
2016 as well. Larger law firms will be on the
lookout for specialist skills when hiring legal talent
in 2016 including front-end construction
experience, mergers & acquisitions, contracts and
or banking & finance experience.
Despite this solid recruitment demand, employers
still prefer candidates to have strong local
experience making it hard for overseas candidates
to break into New Zealand’s legal profession.
hays.net.nz
Procurement…
8. 7. PROCUREMENT
Procurement is developing beyond being
simply a cost cutting function to one able to
secure the business with greater value when
negotiating volume deals.
Globally, procurement is also increasingly required
to forge business partnerships with suppliers rather
than be just the gatekeepers on spending.
In addition, New Zealand government guidelines
released in 2015 on procurement processes for
large construction projects are placing new
demands on the procurement function.
The guidelines are designed to achieve greater
health and safety outcomes for the construction
sector.
hays.net.nz
Marketing…
9. 8. MARKETING DIGITAL
FUTURISTS
In line with global trends, New Zealand
organisations are increasingly using digital
tools such as big data and analytics to
understand customers and drive deeper
customer engagement.
Increasingly, marketing is expected to champion
the adoption and use of new technologies and
demonstrate the returns on investment of IT spend.
While not new, social media is still underutilised by
many New Zealand companies and we expect this
to be a key area for organisations looking to
expand in 2016 particularly those exporting a
product or service. Video as a marketing channel is
also tipped to be an area of growth.
hays.net.nz
Big data…
10. 9. BIG DATA EXPERTS
& DIGITAL ANALYSTS
In addition to its value to marketing, big data is
crucial to surfacing important trends, risks and
opportunities and to define the actions an
organisation must take to succeed.
Collecting and analysing big data is taking place
across a wide range of professions, industries and
business sectors.
Virtualisation, cloud technologies, the use of open
source data tools and applications that combine
data sets to create value are some of the trends
taking place.
hays.net.nz
Digital security…
11. 10. DIGITAL SECURITY
Securing ever-increasing volumes of data in
New Zealand will continue to be a priority in
2016.
However, due to the growing sophistication of
cyber hackers, organisations accept that an attack
at some stage is a high probability.
For this reason, many see investing in talent and
systems able to help them recover quickly in the
event of an attack as well as identify and close
security gaps as a prudent course of action.
As more organisations use big data tools and
wireless and cloud-based solutions, keeping data
and systems safe and secure will be a constant
challenge.
hays.net.nz
Christchurch moves…
12. 11. CHRISTCHURCH MOVES
FROM BLUE TO WHITE
While demand for talent in Christchurch
continues across construction, property and
infrastructure we expect more white collar job
opportunities to come online as businesses re-
establish themselves including IT jobs, sales and
marketing roles and finance and administrative
roles.
hays.net.nz
Diversity…
13. 12. DIVERSITY
New Zealand’s employers are being told to
focus more attention on the full range of
diversity issues in the coming year. A new
“Champions of Change” group comprising top
New Zealand business leaders is just one
forum calling for a broader view of diversity.
The group will meet for the first time in March to
discuss ways to promote greater diversity in
leadership roles across gender, disability, cultural
background and sexual orientation.
Cultural diversity is a big topic with New Zealand’s
population comprising more than 200 ethnicities
speaking 160 languages. Age diversity at work is
also a changing dynamic with the proportion of
workers aged 55 years predicted to grow to around
one in four by 2020.
hays.net.nz
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