The Hudson Report: Employment Trends released this morning showed a net 28.1% of employers across the country intended to increase permanent staff numbers in the first three months of next year, up 4% compared with the previous quarter and up 6.2% compared with the same time last year.
Hudson general manager Roman Rogers said the result was driven by rising expectations in the upper North Island, where employer sentiment had steadily increased in the past 12 months, up nearly 8% since the start of the year.
However, net hiring sentiment in the South Island remained the strongest nationally, with a net 42.2% of employers intending to increase staff numbers, up 8.6% on the previous quarter.
The Canterbury rebuild continued to be a strong force in driving growth but the real story of the quarter was the increasing role of Auckland and its investment in property, construction and manufacturing leading the charge, he said.
''More generally, the balance of economic indicators in 2014 has set us up for a stronger, more consistent year ahead and we expect the current levels of optimism and hiring to hold steady in 2015.''
At 5.4%, the unemployment rate continued to fall and with net migration on the rise, employees had plenty to smile about, Mr Rogers said.
Hudson expected to see skills shortages starting to bite, resulting in a greater use of a temporary and contract workforce and creating pressure on salaries and wages.
''This is good news for jobseekers and employees looking for more flexibility in their working conditions or to meet their salary goals.''
Hiring intentions tended to fluctuate, due to the staggered hiring requirements coming with large tenders being won in the market, project milestones being reached and many organisations oscillating between using in-house resources and consultancies to meet demand, Mr Rogers said.
Roles in demand were those linked to revenue generation with the property and construction sector, such as quantity surveyors, project managers and contracts managers.
Investment in construction, housing, manufacturing and supply chain were all major drivers behind increased optimism in the upper North Island region.
''We also expect there to be a lift in demand for talent in the financial sector, as a result of increasing domestic consumption and low interest rates.''
Net sentiment in the lower North Island remained steady, dropping 1.4%. A net 17.6% of employers were looking to increase their number of employees in the coming quarter.
In the South Island, the Canterbury rebuild continued to drive employment demand and, in the past three months, there had been an increase in investment in commercial buildings and large amounts of residential subdivisions being developed, Mr Rogers said.
Nationwide, human resources was the profession with the strongest positive hiring sentiment (43.2%), followed by supply chain and procurement (33.8%), financial services (31.7%), information, communication and technology (28.8%) office support (20.6%) and accounting and finance (8.8%).
''We continue to see a trend in financial services where innovation is critical to success and there is great demand for product and service development roles, business improvement specialists and operational risk and compliance.''
Investment in customer contact centres was driving demand in office support and there was also an increased demand for senior executive assistants - suggesting senior leaders were not only busier but feeling comfortable in their ability to justify the added resources, he said.
Net contractor hiring sentiment continued to rise and Hudson expected to see the trend continue as skills shortages increased and employers struggled to fill gaps left by candidate movement and internal promotions.
Sentiment in ICT remained strong, where 20.5% of hiring managers intended to increase contract workers in their teams.
''We've observed the skills required for roles in the ICT profession are becoming more specialised, hence the increasing use of contractors.
"Roles in demand are those tied to the systems development life cycle, including business analysts, project managers, software developers and architects.''
Twelve months ago, businesses were focused on the bottom-line and were operating on a very lean head count, Mr Rogers said.
While that was still a focus, there had been a relaxation in terms of funding roles where specialist skills were required and a realisation the pool of talent had tightened.
''The difficulty in finding specialist talent that thrives in an ever-changing environment is only going to become more challenging.
"It is critical employers move now to ensure they're not caught short,'' he said.
