Wanaka businessman Jethro Robinson, who manages the Queenstown and Wanaka job agencies, says Wanaka's three main industries - construction, hospitality, and agriculture - were all experiencing a "very flat" period.
"Everyone's trying to stay upbeat. They're not going to like what I've got to say [about the job markets]," he said yesterday.
The two neighbouring resort towns had very different economies.
Chances of employment were better in Queenstown, especially for transient job-seekers arriving in the area for winter.
"Things are far worse for transient job-seekers than previous years," he said.
Wanaka residents were also finding it harder to secure jobs and this compounded the poor outlook for transient job-seekers.
There was less demand for casual jobs in Wanaka's construction industry, with carpenters, electricians, and other tradesmen doing the work of labourers to supplement their usual specialist trade duties.
The hospitality industry in Wanaka had "spikes" in recent times but, despite this, the economy had slowed and employment opportunities had also dipped.
Many employers were holding back on taking on new workers.
The Wanaka economy was holding up, but it lacked the same depth as Queenstown's larger market, he said.
"Things are for more positive in Queenstown and we can usually place jobseekers in work relatively quickly there," he said.
There were "plenty of jobs" in Queenstown and he had started advertising for Wanaka-based workers to move to Queenstown to secure employment, Mr Robinson said.
The number of people seeking winter work in Wanaka was "about the same as this time, last year".
