Hiring sentiment is at its highest level in six years and net hiring sentiment in the South Island remains the strongest nationally, a report released this week shows.
The Hudson Report: Employment Trends release showed demand for new hiring had become increasingly balanced across New Zealand.
A net 30.1% of employers across the country intended to increase permanent staff numbers, up 2% compared with the previous quarter, making four consecutive quarters of employment growth.
Hudson New Zealand general manager Roman Rogers said previously, the Canterbury and Auckland regions had been key drivers of hiring demand nationally.
While still positive, demand was now being supported by rising expectations in the lower North Island, where employer sentiment had moved up 5.2% to 22.8%, the highest quarter-on-quarter increase in the region since early 2011.
''For some time, both the Canterbury rebuild and investment in Auckland have been leading the employment charge.
"However, post election, we're now seeing Wellington - led by the resumption of large Government transformation projects - starting to come to the party and signalling a much more balanced hiring landscape across New Zealand.''
Business confidence was growing in line with consumer confidence but a close eye was being kept on indicators such as inflation, commodity prices and the dollar.
Employers were cautiously juggling demand in order to be competitive and incremental employment growth was expected in the year ahead, he said.
In the South Island, net hiring sentiment meant a net 40.3% of employers intended to increase the number of their staff, down slightly compared with the previous quarter.
Hiring expectations in Canterbury remained high, as the region continued to deliver large property and construction projects.
Roles in demand included quantity surveyors, estimators, civil engineers and project managers.
With some large insurance programmes drawing to a close, an influx of both technical and office-based candidates was expected to come on to the market, Mr Rogers said.
''This will create opportunities for businesses to pick up some great employees but it is likely the market will become even more competitive as a result.''
Employment sentiment in the upper North Island increased, up 2.5% to a net 29% of employers intending to hire more and up 10.3% compared with the same time last year.
Nationwide, property and construction was the profession with the strongest hiring sentiment (59.7%), followed by supply chain and procurement (42.2%), technical and engineering (36.5%), financial services (36%), information, communication and technology (38.5%), office support (21.3%), and accounting and finance (18.9%).
Mr Rogers said there continued to be a trend in supply chain and procurement towards greater efficiency and increased productivity as organisations tried to improve their margins.
Overall, net contractor hiring sentiment remained constant at 14.6%, as employers continued to focus on keeping business intelligence within their organisations and balancing an average target ratio of 75% to 25% of a contract versus permanent team split for projects.
Sentiment in information, communication and technology remained strong across the board and net 20% hiring managers intended to increase contract staff numbers.
Advancements in digital technology continued to revolutionise the way people did business, he said.
The ability to harness those effectively and create the personalised and tailored experiences customers demanded was becoming a key differentiator requiring an unprecedented level of responsiveness and innovation.
''It is no surprise we are seeing an increase in demand for roles related to business process and improving the customer experience.''
