Technology and IT employers in particular were being cautious about recruitment, JobAdder said. Photo: 123rf
The labour market is undergoing a correction with organisations more cautious about hiring new staff, according to new research.
Recruitment software platform JobAdder said it has seen a fall in the number of jobs ads created per account by New Zealand recruitment agencies.
It said 54 job ads were created per account in the second quarter of this year, compared to 58 a year ago.
Recruitment agencies also saw an increase in applications per job, rising to 22.3 in the second quarter from 11.7 at the same time last year.
JobAdder chief executive Martin Herbst, said while the employment market remained strong, it was undergoing a correction to pre-pandemic levels.
He said employers in some sectors, in particular tech and IT, were being cautious about recruitment.
"What we're seeing is a normalisation from peak job demand levels that were relatively unprecedented in the last generation or so, and those levels I don't think would be sustained even if some of the other economic factors are different," Herbst said.
"At the same time, given some of the higher inflation, higher interest rates, lower consumer confidence and corporate confidence, that is taking steam out of the economic vitality.
"[And it is] putting a suppressing factor on the level of job demands and companies are being more cautious in terms of hiring."
The reopening of the borders played a big factor in the increase in applications per job, he said.
"That helps a lot with filling those specialised rose where the overseas skills are needed."
Another factor was the higher cost of living which was prompting people to look for new jobs, he said.
