Resources & insights
Reports, guides and honest takes on the NZ job market. Made by humans who actually do this for a living.
guideA practical guide to independent contracting in NZ, covering how contractor agreements work, what tax and ACC obligations sit with you, how leave and timesheets differ from permanent work, and why contracting suits some people better.
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guideA practical guide for candidates in a crowded job market: where to focus your applications, how to check your expectations, and where demand still exists.
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guideA practical guide for candidates on getting past AI screening tools, covering how to mirror the language in a job ad, format a CV that parses cleanly, and put your strongest evidence where the system will actually read it.
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reportQ1 started with a sense of real momentum. After a tough couple of years, there was genuine optimism across the market. Budgets were loosening, transformation programmes were being dusted off, and hiring activity was beginning to follow. It felt like 2026 might finally be the year things opened up again.
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Permanent roles are still harder to get over the line while money is dearer. A lot of the live work in tech, digital and finance is arriving as contract. If you are mid-level or senior and only applying for permanent seats, you may be missing half the market.
Job ads that name AI skills are up 94.1 percent over the year, and ethics and governance is the fastest-growing ask. A one-line "must know AI" brief will not get you a usable shortlist. Here is a tighter way to write the brief.
The Reserve Bank lifted the OCR to 2.75 percent today, and signalled it may need to go further this year. Cheaper money is not the hiring trigger for the rest of 2026. Here's the practical read for hiring managers and candidates.
Underutilisation is 13.8 percent, which means a lot of people will apply for roles that are not quite them. A tighter brief and a few knockout questions will get you to a shortlist you can actually use.
Most 2027 headcount plans assume things loosen up once the Reserve Bank moves. That assumption shifted in July. Nine questions to test yours.
Unemployment is at its highest since 2015 and the Reserve Bank raised rates anyway. What mid-2026 actually means if you are hiring or job hunting.