Local skills shortage as unemployment falls in the Bay

Rotorua is experiencing a skills shortage in some professions. PHOTO/FILE

Office staff, administrators, tradespeople and chartered accountants are in hot demand in Rotorua as unemployment figures in the region drop below the national average.

Rotorua recruitment agencies are also reporting a shortage of workers in some industries, including skilled jobs such as lawyers and accountants.

The Bay of Plenty unemployment rate decreased by 1 per cent in the last year, according to Statistics New Zealand, going against the national trend of a slight rise.

Unemployment in the Bay of Plenty is now the lowest in the North Island, at 4.9 per cent.

Nationally, unemployment has risen by 0.3 per cent to 5.2 per cent, although the employment rate has also increased due to New Zealand's population growth over the last year.

"We have experienced an increasing demand around most services," Rotorua recruitment agency Talent ID director Kellie Hamlett said.

"The beginning of the year is traditionally a very busy time for us and this year is no exception."

Lawyers, accountants, IT professionals and builders are among the trades in highest demand, according to Ms Hamlett.

Talent ID received a large number of inquiries from people in other regions looking to move into the area, Ms Hamlett said.

This contributed to "an approximately 50 per cent increase in applications over the past six month period".

The agency reported a large increase in job listings as well as applications.

This was the result of a construction "boom" in the region over the last quarter of 2016, Ms Hamlett said, and the population growth that accompanied it.

Personnel Resources/Temp Resources Rotorua manager Angelique Scott said the agency had been flat out this year.

"We hit the ground running on January 4 when we came back to the office."

She said they had been working on a range of roles but there had been demand to fill roles for accountants who were "desperate for more staff in Rotorua, especially intermediate and senior chartered accountants".

"This does depend on the candidate the client is looking for and at other times it can be hard to find the specific person to fit in with an organisation.

"We also have clients who have approached the marketplace and haven't found anyone and are asking us if we have any suitable candidates on our books.

"The rest we tend to fill quite quickly with administration and office roles, with lots of those people on our books."

Mrs Scott said with Rotorua looking great and businesses positive about the future there would be more opportunities coming up for 2017.

Crown Research Institute Scion has six positions on offer at the moment with applications for another six roles just closing.

Scion people and performance senior adviser Michelle Easton said it often took a while to find the right people for highly specialised roles.

She said Scion had been recruiting more than they would lately with five people about to take up new roles and more in the pipeline.

"We are often recruiting people from all around the world. We don't have a huge turnover and most of these roles are new."

The jobs going at the moment require bachelors, masters and PhD qualifications, more at the highly skilled end of the scale, she said.

"Rotorua is very positive at the moment and people love the lifestyle here."

Employment in Rotorua
- Trade Me job listings: 195 as of yesterday
- Seek job listings: 136 as of yesterday
- Bay of Plenty unemployment rate has dropped to 4.9 per cent, the lowest in the North Island
- National unemployment rate has risen to 5.2 per cent

Top employment opportunities
- Office administrators
- Tradespeople
- Retail staff and customer service
- Hospitality staff and management
- Accountants
- Forestry workers
- Information and technology
- Mechanics and automotive staff
- Drivers

- Additional reporting Angela Woods