TOP 12 TALENT TRENDS FOR 2016WHAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR RADAR?

“Skill shortages persist across both

the white collar and blue collar

sectors and we expect this to

continue into this year.”

Jason Walker

Managing Director at Hays New Zealand

hays.net.nz Go to trends…

1. NEW ZEALAND STILL VERY MUCH IN BUILDING MODE

Civil and construction will continue to dominate

recruitment in 2016. Civil recruitment is being

driven by new land developments around the

country as well as existing building and

infrastructure projects.

For example, in construction, official figures reveal

a shortfall of at least 21,000 trades people and

labourers to work on infrastructure rebuild projects.

Even when these projects are completed, the many

infrastructure and building projects around the

country will keep candidate demand high.

It’s estimated some 30,000 tradespeople and

labourers will be needed in Auckland alone but we

expect workers moving off Christchurch projects

will meet some of this demand.

hays.net.nz Apprentices…

2. APPRENTICES SUPER HOT IN 2016

More initiatives are needed to encourage

school students and young people to choose

apprenticeships.

For example, from next year Māori and Pasifika

Trades Training (MPTT) will accept 16 and 17-

year-olds instead of only those 18 or older and a

MPTT “alumni” has been created to mentor young

trainees.

New Zealand’s aging population and the increasing

number of civil, construction, and infrastructure

projects is creating an acute shortage of

apprentices. It’s estimated the country needs 3,500

people entering apprenticeships each year – an

increase of 50 per cent on present figures.

hays.net.nz

Talent shortage…

3. TALENT SHORTAGE AS TOURISM BOOMS

New Zealand’s tourism sector employs more

than 12 per cent of the workforce and is

expanding rapidly with visitor numbers from

China alone growing by nearly 30 per cent in

the last year.

However, employers are struggling to find

candidates with the right level of professionalism.

Shortages already exist in Auckland and

Queenstown and industry figures estimate nearly

50,000 extra candidates will be needed across the

sector in the next decade.

hays.net.nz

Accounting…

4. ACCOUNTING SUPPORT

Strengthening business activity will drive up

demand for accounting support candidates in

2016.

However, employers prefer candidates with

experience that matches their industry whether that

is construction, manufacturing or a service

business. We expect many employers will continue

to look for flexibility in 2016 to help them take

advantage of improving economic conditions.

The “try before you buy” approach of hiring a

candidate on a temporary basis with a view of

making them a permanent hire down the track is

here to stay. In the government sector, many

organisations are moving to share service

arrangements and therefore prefer candidates with

experience working under this model.

hays.net.nz Migration…

5. MIGRATION CHANGES TO HELP SHAPE NATION

Changes to New Zealand’s skilled migration

laws introduced in 2015 will be tested in 2016.

Under the new laws, those moving to regional

areas outside of Auckland will be awarded

greater points towards securing residency.

Government figures show New Zealand had a net

gain of 58,300 migrants in the 2014/2015 year with

half of all migrants settling in Auckland. China was

the largest source of migrants followed by India

and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, it has been

alleged that a third of work visas used by Filipinos

in NZ are fake with the fall out expected to impact

the Christchurch rebuild as well as the agricultural

sector. Of the 59,600-work visas New Zealand

approved from 1993 to 2015 most went to workers

from the Philippines.

hays.net.nz Legal eagles…

6. LEGAL EAGLES FLYING HIGH

Commercial property and construction are

generating greater demand for legal services in

both Christchurch and Auckland.

Insurance claims related to the Christchurch quake

are expected to drive up demand for legal talent in

2016 as well. Larger law firms will be on the

lookout for specialist skills when hiring legal talent

in 2016 including front-end construction

experience, mergers & acquisitions, contracts and

or banking & finance experience.

Despite this solid recruitment demand, employers

still prefer candidates to have strong local

experience making it hard for overseas candidates

to break into New Zealand’s legal profession.

hays.net.nz

Procurement…

7. PROCUREMENT

Procurement is developing beyond being

simply a cost cutting function to one able to

secure the business with greater value when

negotiating volume deals.

Globally, procurement is also increasingly required

to forge business partnerships with suppliers rather

than be just the gatekeepers on spending.

In addition, New Zealand government guidelines

released in 2015 on procurement processes for

large construction projects are placing new

demands on the procurement function.

The guidelines are designed to achieve greater

health and safety outcomes for the construction

sector.

hays.net.nzMarketing…

8. MARKETING DIGITAL FUTURISTS

In line with global trends, New Zealand

organisations are increasingly using digital

tools such as big data and analytics to

understand customers and drive deeper

customer engagement.

Increasingly, marketing is expected to champion

the adoption and use of new technologies and

demonstrate the returns on investment of IT spend.

While not new, social media is still underutilised by

many New Zealand companies and we expect this

to be a key area for organisations looking to

expand in 2016 particularly those exporting a

product or service. Video as a marketing channel is

also tipped to be an area of growth.

hays.net.nz

Big data…

9. BIG DATA EXPERTS & DIGITAL ANALYSTS

In addition to its value to marketing, big data is

crucial to surfacing important trends, risks and

opportunities and to define the actions an

organisation must take to succeed.

Collecting and analysing big data is taking place

across a wide range of professions, industries and

business sectors.

Virtualisation, cloud technologies, the use of open

source data tools and applications that combine

data sets to create value are some of the trends

taking place.

hays.net.nz

Digital security…

10. DIGITAL SECURITY

Securing ever-increasing volumes of data in

New Zealand will continue to be a priority in

2016.

However, due to the growing sophistication of

cyber hackers, organisations accept that an attack

at some stage is a high probability.

For this reason, many see investing in talent and

systems able to help them recover quickly in the

event of an attack as well as identify and close

security gaps as a prudent course of action.

As more organisations use big data tools and

wireless and cloud-based solutions, keeping data

and systems safe and secure will be a constant

challenge.

hays.net.nz

Christchurch moves…

11. CHRISTCHURCH MOVES FROM BLUE TO WHITE

While demand for talent in Christchurch

continues across construction, property and

infrastructure we expect more white collar job

opportunities to come online as businesses re-

establish themselves including IT jobs, sales and

marketing roles and finance and administrative

roles.

hays.net.nz

Diversity…

12. DIVERSITY

New Zealand’s employers are being told to

focus more attention on the full range of

diversity issues in the coming year. A new

“Champions of Change” group comprising top

New Zealand business leaders is just one

forum calling for a broader view of diversity.

The group will meet for the first time in March to

discuss ways to promote greater diversity in

leadership roles across gender, disability, cultural

background and sexual orientation.

Cultural diversity is a big topic with New Zealand’s

population comprising more than 200 ethnicities

speaking 160 languages. Age diversity at work is

also a changing dynamic with the proportion of

workers aged 55 years predicted to grow to around

one in four by 2020.

hays.net.nz

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