Angela has spent most of this year looking for work.
She had a fixed-term contract that expired in June, but started to look for her next move in January, knowing the end-date was approaching.
The 46-year-old, who has worked since she was 16, specialises in the arts and culture sector and has a master’s degree.
She broadened her search this year to other industries and estimates she applied for about 70 roles across project management, communications and engagement positions with not-for-profits and other organisations.
Recruitment sites showed there were hundreds of other applicants for the roles. There were almost 1000 for an operations co-ordinator job.
She made the shortlist for seven jobs.
“I was looking for work while the public sector cuts were rolling out so I figured there will be many people like me with my skills also job hunting.”
RNZ has agreed not to identify Angela because, although she has now found two part-time roles, they are contract positions and she is still looking for a permanent job for when they expire.
She said she went on JobSeeker Support for a couple of months and found dealing with Work and Income demoralising.
“The first time I went in, the case worker said I needed to cancel a weekend of work I’d booked and would pay me. Because to be on the JobSeeker I needed to be ready to take any job… I was worried if I did what they said I’d lose income and damage my reputation.”
She worked with business mentors who helped with networking connections, and she contacted everyone she had worked with as a contractor to ask about job leads.
“Lots of kind support but no words.”
Another jobhunter, who asked not to be identified because he had found a new job this week, said he was on the verge of leaving the country because of how hard it was to find work.
He spent five months looking for a new role after the end of a contract with a government department.
With a new baby coming, he and his family had been about to list their home for sale and try their luck in the UK or Dubai instead, had he not been successful with his latest attempt.
“It’s more than tough, it’s nightmarish,” he said.
He said he would often go to an interview that felt positive and then receive an insultingly generic email from the company’s human resources department.
He applied for 50 jobs and had about 25 interviews, he said. Many times the company decided it would not go ahead with hiring anyone at all.
“This is a real thing as well – they’ve got this opportunity and then say actually no we can probably wait until the new year and put it on hold.”
New Zealand’s labour market is increasingly weak. The unemployment rate hit 4.8% in the September quarter and the labour force participation rate was down to 71.2% and the employment rate 67.8%.
Of people not working, the number who said it was because they were studying increased to 57.3% in the third quarter of this year from 50.9% at the start of the year. But the number of people not working because of their own sickness also increased, from 46.6% at he start of the year to 50.6%.
The proportion of people who said they were not looking for work because there was no work available also grew.
Sabrina Delgado, an economist at Kiwibank, said the unemployment rate was likely to settle at 5.5% in the second half of next year.
“But it’s not until economic activity picks up in the later half of 2026 that we see unemployment starting to trend down.
“In terms of who’s being hit the hardest, it’s actually construction bearing the brunt. Construction jobs have made up just under a quarter of total job losses in the past year. It checks out with what we’re hearing. And isn’t much of a surprise given the state of the housing market. Low prices, still-high construction costs, and a still high-interest rate environment is seeing major pullbacks in construction. And ultimately a lot of downsizing across construction businesses.”
She said there had also been significant job losses in professional and administrative support roles, such as Angela’s.
“Their job losses have accounted for just under 20% of total job losses in the past year. No doubt as businesses have had to downsize to waning demand.”
About 13% of job losses had been in the retail and accommodation industry.
“But we are starting to see a bit of a pickup in consumer sentiment and retail sales in the latest data thanks to lower interest rates – which should provide some relief. “
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the increase in unemployment was hitting young people particularly hard.
It was particularly a problem for those who had recently qualified and were ready to enter the workforce.
“Every time we have a recession we see an impact on the cohort reaching the age of entry to the labour force. Their career prospects are dented. They might not be able to get a job, they can’t apply the skills they have. There can be a scarring effect that takes a long time to dissipate.”
He said there could be a situation in which a group of graduates found it hard to get a job, and then were joined the next year by another cohort they had to compete with.
If the wider job market was tough and more experienced people were willing to do the job, it would make it hard for new entrants to compete.
Over a year, the number of people employed in the labour force aged 15 to 19 dropped 11.7%. Those aged 20 to 24 dropped 5.3% and 25 to 29 dropped 7.6%.
Recruiter Shannon Barlow, managing director of Frog, said when businesses were experiencing tougher conditions they were more likely to want to reduce their risks and aim to get the most from any new employee so they were more likely to choose someone who had experience.
But Eaqub said he was optimistic about the future.
“Interest rates are coming down, we’re working through the problems we have now, weak businesses are failing – all the things that should be happening in a recession are happening.”
He said businesses that could do so could position themselves now to take advantage of the recovery when it came.
“There’s plenty of choice and you have time on your side to train people up so they ar ready to hit the ground running when demand comes back.”
rnz.co.nz
