Overall, the Westpac McDermot Miller Employment Confidence Index lifted 2 points in the March quarter to 108.5.
The present conditions index rose 0.7 to 102.9 and the employment expectations index rose 2.9 to 112.3.
Perceived job security by workers also increased in the quarter.
Southland easily achieved the largest rise in confidence, lifting 15.2 points in March to 115.8 from 100.78. Otago moved from 98.9 to 103.3 in the month.
Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said employment confidence fell in Southland late in 2014, possibly in response to concerns about conditions in the dairy industry.
However, workers in Southland had become noticeably more upbeat about the outlook for employment and earnings over the coming year.
Otago-Southland Employers Association chief executive John Scandrett said with regional unemployment in low-level bands at 4.2% for Otago and 3.4% for Southland, it was not surprising the latest employment confidence outcomes for the South were also tracking strongly.
''If you run the survey results alongside the unemployment levels for the Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Northland, the reverse is the case.
"Down here, while current agribusiness commodity prices have dipped over recent months, the `farm-gate work' goes on and we're still seeing upward local lift in manufacturing and service sector performance.
''Add in some developing new forward movement in construction activity and the local workplace scene is generally positively poised right now, '' he said.
Mr Ranchhod said employment confidence last year appeared to have been weighed down by concerns about the impact of the drought and lingering softness in global demand.
While those factors had slowed the economy, their impact did not appear to have been as severe as initially feared. Much of the March quarter's increase in employment confidence occurred in rural areas.
''We're not surprised to see employment confidence picking up in early 2015. Conditions in the domestic economy are looking very positive.''
