Trade Me listings for Hawke's Bay jobs rose more than 12 per cent last quarter.
Total job listings were up 12.7 per cent on the same time last year in the April to June quarter and salaries were up 4.5 per cent, Trade Me figures show.
Pipeline Recruitment director Ian Beattie said the increase in job listings reflected what his company had experienced.
He said the the financial year was off to a strong start with many roles available in accounting, information technology and engineering. Pipeline Recruitment operates in the commercial space at the middle to upper end of the market. Mr Beattie said many people had been been moving home to Hawke's Bay earlier than they would have in the past, driven by the Auckland and Wellington property markets.
"Often they'll leave here from high school, go off to university and then come back 20 years later, but we're seeing them come back younger now."
Many of those people were coming back with skills, experience and qualifications.
Trade Me figures showed more women than men applied for Trade Me jobs with salaries below $39,999 in Hawke's Bay last quarter. Women made up 56 per cent of applicants for jobs that paid less than $39,999.
More men than women applied for jobs in all salary brackets above the $40,000 mark. Applications for 66 per cent of jobs in the $80,000 to $99,999 category came from men.
Mr Beattie said gender wasn't a factor in the jobs the company handled.
Nationwide, men dominated applications in the executive and general management sector while women were more likely to apply for roles in the legal sector by two to one, according to Trade Me. Trade Me Jobs spokesman Jeremy Wade said he was surprised at the imbalance for some job types.
"We looked at all the applications from our members over the past three months and in sectors like engineering and IT, more than 80 per cent of the applications are from men.
"Public sector roles and banking and finance were evenly split between male and female applicants, while more than 70 per cent of applications for roles in education and office administration are from women."
Mr Wade said everybody was responsible for ensuring workplace equality and diversity.
"We need to have this conversation and think about what we're doing that might be inhibiting people from getting into industries and roles where they can do great work."
Mr Wade said the proportion of men applying for roles was higher for every bracket above $40,000, and the proportion of women applying diminished as pay rates increased.
Mr Wade said job listings were up 9.3 per cent in the second quarter, and the average salary up 0.5 per cent.