Moving Day will go ahead this year, but with strict controls due to Covid-19.
Employment was put on hold and job listings came to a standstill when Covid-19 hit but recruiters say some sectors have boomed in level 3.
Recruiters believe building, construction and horticulture could have an immediate demand for roles to help shape the level 3 economy while business leaders say changeis expected.
Leaders in Tauranga's business sector say people need to brace themselves for a period of much harder employment conditions and expect to see more fixed-term or contractor roles as employers become more tentative about taking on permanent staff.
The Staffroom director Jill Cachemaille. Photo / File
The Staffroom director Jill Cachemaille said she had noticed a drop in job listings across all sectors mostly from the point of level 4 lockdown. Until then businesses were relatively positive.
"However, the Covid-19 crisis crept up quickly and suddenly jobs went on hold and job listings came to a standstill.
"We feel that businesses in level 3 if anything will look to engage new staff initially in a temporary or casual nature until such time there is more certainty within the economy.
"Job listings will remain, however they may take time to gain traction."
1st Call Recruitment managing director Phill van Syp had noticed a big drop in job listings in the last week but said the impact started much earlier due to the effect overseas.
"The wharf is one of our biggest earners in the Bay, it was already impacted before the whole lockdown. It is definitely due to what is happening internationally rather than just in the Bay of Plenty."
1st Call Recruitment managing director Phill van Syp. Photo / File
He said clients had not been able to get parts from overseas to make some of their products a month before lockdown happened.
"We were already having struggles with parts and pieces in early March and it got worse and worse. Our numbers dropped 38 per cent in that last month, everything was just quietening down way before the month of lockdown.
"But on the other end of the scale, they have just ordered a huge number of staff when they get out of lockdown because they will need to catch up."
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt. Photo / File
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt expected unemployment to climb from about 4 per cent to 10 per cent over the course of this year.
"We need to brace ourselves for a period of much harder employment conditions than we've been used to."
Tutt said there were still some sectors employing and expected horticulture, transport, logistics and construction to be strong "if we get good levels of government spend in this region".
"The key to our recovery will be retraining people from sectors that aren't doing so well to ones that are."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said anecdotally there had been a large number of job changes in the local economy.
Cowley said a number of tourism and hospitality businesses had downsized and redirected staff either directly to the horticulture industry or supermarkets, which had been recruiting directly.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo / File
"There was a reduction in vacancies for professional services during the level 4 lockdown as businesses shift into survival mode."
But he said there would be demand for specialised roles, particularly in IT and e-commerce as businesses quickly evolved into the digital space.
"When business confidence is low, employers tend to be more tentative about taking on permanent staff.
"It's likely that we'll see more fixed-term or contractor roles and that more people will enter the 'gig economy' where they contract to a number of businesses as we cascade down the alert levels."
According to jobs website Seek, the Bay was one of the areas hardest-hit by Covid-19 with job listings falling 12.6 per cent. Trade Me recorded an 18 per cent drop in listings during March alone.
The region also had one of the greatest jumps in advertised salary, up 6.6 per cent to $77,368.
