Our labour market is
- mobile – people often move between jobs and in and out of New Zealand
- ageing – like all the developed countries, there are more older workers
- ethnically diverse – more and more people in our workforce were born outside New Zealand
- experiencing skill shortages – so we welcome people with the skills we need to join our workforce
The occupations that employ the most people are service and sales work, clerical, and professional (including scientists, health professionals, teachers and engineers). Administrators, managers and professionals earn the most money and men are usually paid more highly than women.
Most people work as paid employees, but the number who are self-employed is slowly and steadily growing. More people now work part-time, especially women. It’s more likely for men to work full-time, but this is changing too. There are many part-time jobs in the fast-growing service industries because there is such a high level of shift work involved.
There are noticeable skill shortages in some industries, such as:
- building
- manufacturing
- agriculture
- information technology
- some trades eg electricians, mechanics
- electricity, gas and water sector
- health
- community service.
Skill shortages are a bigger problem in the South Island than the North. Some regions offer incentives for businesses and workers to relocate to their towns and cities.
The labour market is increasingly multi-ethnic. Nearly one in five New Zealand residents were born overseas. The number of multilingual people has increased in the last 5 years to nearly one in six people. One in seven people are of Maori ethnicity. The number of European-born residents has dropped slightly over the last five years. But there have been large increases in resident populations from many parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
We welcome cultural differences. Different cultures offer social and economic opportunities. They give us social enrichment, skills and capital, which can help us to foster trade and economic growth.