Insights

With the New Year nearly upon us, here is a quick snapshot of what the market looks like for 2019.

Hiring Activity Better Than Expected

In our 2018 Auckland Market & Salary Report, we reported that 25% of businesses were planning on increasing their hiring activity over the next twelve months. The great news is that actual hiring activity in the market has revealed to be a lot stronger than predicted. Over the past four weeks, more than half (51%) of businesses stated that they had hired new staff within the last six months.

Half of Hiring Due to Growth

On analysis of the market’s reasons for hiring, we found that 50% of managers hired due to business growth and 44% of the market hired recently due to attrition. The good news is more organisations hired over the last six months due to reasons associated with growth as opposed to replacement.

Recruitment Intentions High For New Year

Trading Economics reported a significant drop in business confidence in the New Zealand economy with their index hitting a 12-month low of -50.3 in August. The good news is the Business Confidence Index began to recover in September and October and the current forecast for November is -34. It would appear that this slight recovery could also be impacting hiring intentions over the next year, with nearly twice the number of managers (46% up from 25%) planning on increasing their hiring activity compared to six months ago.

With the end of financial year for many in sight, we don’t anticipate a slow-down in recruitment.

Market Still Candidate Short

When we ask our clients what their core reason was for why their businesses struggled to find, attract and retain the best people, nearly a third (32%) of managers stated a lack of qualified candidates. On top of that, 70% of respondents also agreed that it was harder to find and attract the right people compared to five years earlier.

Higher Salary is Top Consideration for Great Candidates

To ensure your business is attracting best-in-market candidates, it is imperative that you provide remuneration packages that align with market demand. Unsurprisingly, 37% of professionals want a higher salary when looking for a new job which came in as the highest consideration. Paying people what they are worth is your most effective way to guarantee you not only attract great people, but retain them too.

On the other hand, flexible working hours came in second place and was only 3% behind having a higher salary. This highlights that, whilst salary is a driving force behind market behaviour, it isn’t the only force at play. In fact, providing some kind of flexibility will be crucial to your candidate attraction and retention strategy moving into 2019.

Closing Thoughts

With the end of financial year looming, January and February can be incredibly busy months for Accounting & Finance teams. If you’re looking to hire to relieve this pressure, give us a call on 09 377 3727 to get the ball rolling.

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