Job applications outpacing listings

Northland job listings were up 4 per cent in the final quarter of 2015 compared to the same time the previous year, according to Trade Me figures. Photo / iStock

Applications for Northland jobs listed on Trade Me have increased by nearly 12 per cent and a recruitment boss says a single advertised job can attract upwards of 100 applicants.

Northland job listings were up 4 per cent in the final quarter of 2015 compared to the same time the previous year, according to Trade Me figures.

Applications per listings were up 11.6 per cent.

Adecco job agency Whangarei manager Jamie Rosemergy said many people were looking for work across the spectrum from blue collar roles to senior executive positions. He said Northland's unemployment rate was well above the national average.

Mr Rosemergy said a lot of people were relocating to Northland before securing a job. Those new arrivals might be suitable for hard-to-fill, highly skilled positions. They might also bring business to the area and create jobs.

However, in the short-term Northlanders would continue to struggle to find work and would compete for advertised roles.

"You won't get one or two applying. You'll have dozens or hundreds applying ... In some instances we can place a job advert and have anywhere from 100 to 150 applicants apply."

Mr Rosemergy said the retail and hospitality sectors were busy around Christmas in Northland and the commercial and industrial sectors picked up around this time of year. He expected to see more enquiry from clients looking for workers and from jobseekers, including those keen to change jobs, over the next two months. Mr Rosemergy said it would be an interesting year ahead.

"Hopefully we get some business coming up into Northland which will be nice. Maybe bit more construction would be brilliant."

Head of Trade Me Jobs Peter Osborne said job listings were up 2.2 per cent nationally last quarter and job advertising had slowed overall compared to the "giddy heights" of early last year and the year prior.

Mr Osborne said there were indications 2016 was shaping up to favour employers more than job hunters, with Auckland being the major exception with its continued growth and demand for workers.

Mr Osborne predicted the "dizzying" surge in job advertising in the construction and trades sectors of recent years should settle into a more sustainable level of demand. Large infrastructure programmes and the growth of Auckland was likely to continue as the super city continued to expand.