An employment expert has revealed the industries that are "doing it tough" as the country's job market continues to shrink.
Seek NZ country manager Rob Clarke spoke with AM on Tuesday, saying the job market is now 30 percent lower year-on year and well below pre-COVID levels.
And according to Clarke, those in the hospitality and tourism sectors are struggling to keep their heads above water.
It comes after the latest Seek NZ employment report on Monday revealed job ads fell for a third consecutive month, dropping by 4 percent in April.
Consumer services roles saw the largest decline in April, with demand for hospitality and tourism workers down 21 percent from March.
"We saw what we describe as a job boom, unprecedented levels of activity and it would appear that there's a fairly significant correction going on - much like we hear from the Reserve Bank and other macroeconomic indicators," Clarke said.
He said the number of people applying for jobs is at "record highs."
"The number of people applying has, in some instances, grown - but it's decreased at a far less rate than the number of jobs.
"So, we see applications per ad way up, obviously, net migration is playing a role in that and so is a lot of overseas applicant interest."
However, Clarke said the downward trend isn't visible across the board, with education and training, and insurance and superannuation increasing month-on-month.
"Healthcare typically holds up pretty well, education and training hold up pretty well," he said. "We saw engineering roles increased by 2 percent, so there's a couple [of industries] that do OK."
However, some industries aren't so lucky.
"We obviously see areas like hospitality and tourism, which tend to be a bit more volatile and, in these sorts of times... doing it pretty tough. They were down 21 percent month on month."
Clark said, looking ahead, "it's really hard to forecast" what the second quarter will look like.
"We're not seeing the turning of the tide just yet."
However, he said with the Reserve Bank predicting rising unemployment rates, he believes it will reflect on the number of job ads advertised through career websites.
"We're not seeing any green shoots just yet but we're hopeful that we're near the bottom of the dip."
