SEEK NZ Employment Report - April
*Applications per job ad are recorded with a one-month lag. Data shown in this report refers to March data.
AI Insights:
References to AI-related skills within job ads have risen 4.1% m/m.
AI references within Consulting & Strategy roles are up 14.3% m/m and within Advertising, Arts & Media are up 11.6%.
National Insights:
Job ads rose 0.8% m/m in April and 13.1% y/y.
Applications per job ad fell a further 1.6% m/m.
Region Insights:
Both major centres grew: Auckland and Wellington were up 1.6% m/m and 0.4% m/m respectively.
Broad-based growth across most regions in April, led by Otago (3.4% m/m), Waikato (3.1% m/m) and Manawatu (3.0% m/m).
South Island momentum remains strong, with Canterbury up 2.8% m/m and Southland up 2.9% m/m.
Industry Insights:
Construction rose 2.5% m/m and led annual gains at 44.8% y/y.
Information & Communication Technology improved 1.3% m/m and 13.0% y/y.
Strong monthly increases in Trades & Services (3.4% m/m) and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (2.8% m/m).
AI Insights
Demand for AI skills continues to grow rapidly, with references to AI more than doubling in the past year and up 4.1% from March to April. However, job ads including AI-related keywords only appear in 2.9% of total job ads, highlighting how some industries are looking for more AI skills than others.
Figure 1: The SEEK AI Gauge – Measure of job ads that include AI-related keywords
Over the past month there have been notable rises in the following industries: Information & Communication Technology (5.2%), Marketing & Communications (5.5%), Consulting & Strategy (14.3%) and Advertising, Arts & Media (11.6%).
Figure 2: AI-mentions in jobs ads, shown as a share of total job ads by classification 2019 to April 2026
Rob Clark, SEEK NZ Country Manager, says:
“April saw another month of positive growth in New Zealand. These figures suggest the market remains in a steady, if unspectacular, upward trend, and that the increased activity through early 2026 is holding its shape. Infrastructure, trades, logistics and operational roles remain strong, and the geographic spread of growth is a healthy development.”
“The South Island continues to be where the numbers are most striking. The region has been a consistent performer throughout this cycle, driven by a concentration of goods-producing industries, infrastructure activity and operational roles that have proven relatively resilient.
“Auckland and Wellington both grew – up 1.6% and 0.4% respectively for the month – though their annual gains of around 11% reflect a recovery that arrived later and is still finding its pace relative to the South.”
National Insights
Hiring demand continued to build in April, with national job ads up 0.8% m/m and 13.1% y/y, reinforcing the steady growth trajectory seen through early 2026.
Job ads are also up over the quarter, with gains of 2.9% q/q and 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year.
Applications per job ad fell 1.6% from the month prior, the seventh consecutive drop, as candidate activity continues to decline from the peak levels set in August 2025.
Figure 3: National SEEK job ad percentage change m/m (April 2025 to April 2026)
Figure 4: Job ads and applications per job ad trend over time
Region Insights
In April, growth was more widespread across regions. Otago (3.4% m/m; 31.7% y/y) and Southland (2.9% m/m; 30.0% y/y) continued to post standout annual gains, underscoring South Island’s strength anchored in goods‑producing and operational roles.
Otago also led the way for monthly increases (3.4% m/m), with Waikato (3.1% m/m) and Manawatu (3.0% m/m) showing firm increases too. Major metros also advanced: Auckland rose 1.6% m/m and Wellington edged up 0.4% m/m.
There was some localised softness in Gisborne, which was the only region to contract m/m (-1.3%) but remains higher on an annual basis (11.1% y/y)
Figure 5: SEEK job ad percentage growth/decline by region, comparing i) April 2026 to March 2026 (m/m) and ii) April 2026 to April 2025 (y/y).
Industry Insights
Construction remains an engine of growth, increasing 2.5% m/m and 44.8% y/y, reflecting robust infrastructure and building activity.
Trades & Services (3.4% m/m) and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (2.8% m/m) continued to grow, consistent with ongoing recovery in operational and supply‑chain roles.
Information & Communication Technology rose 1.3% m/m and 13.0% y/y, Healthcare & Medical grew modestly (0.4% m/m) and Community Services & Development increased (2.7% m/m), pointing to persistent demand in essential services.
In consumer-facing categories: Retail & Consumer Products rose 2.3% m/m and Hospitality & Tourism edged up 0.4% m/m.
Figure 6: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry i) April 2026 vs March 2026 m/m and ii) April 2026 vs April 2025 y/y – Ordered by job ad volume
ENDS
The data contained in this report can be downloaded here.
Banner photo by Thirdman.
About the SEEK Employment Report
The SEEK Employment Report is New Zealand’s leading employment index and provides a comprehensive overview of the New Zealand Employment Marketplace. The report includes the SEEK Employment Index (SEI) which measures only new job ads posted within the reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for labour across all classifications.
To improve this index and continuously ensure its market accuracy, SEEK has recently implemented three main changes to the data within these reports i) the data is reported to one decimal place for the period June 2025 onwards, ii) reporting on trend estimates rather than seasonally adjusted estimates from August 2025 onwards and ii) the inclusion of company listings in the SEI from November 2025.
The SEI may differ to the job ad count on SEEK’s website due to a number of factors including a) the trend adjustments applied to the SEI; and b) the exclusion of duplicated job ads from the SEI.
Caution is recommended when interpreting trend estimates during the COVID period as large month-to-month changes in variables generated multiple trend breaks.
The applications per ad index contains a series break at Jan 2016 when the calculation of this series changed from using gross variables (inclusive of all SEEK job ads) to net variables (removing duplicate job ads). This change has a negligible impact on recent data points, but caution is recommended when interpreting data immediately following the series break, and particularly in 2016 where growth rates have not been adjusted for the series break.
Disclaimer:
The Data should be viewed and regarded as standalone information and should not be aggregated with any other information whether such information has been previously provided by SEEK Limited, ("SEEK"). The Data is given in summary form and whilst care has been taken in its preparation, SEEK makes no representations whatsoever about its completeness or accuracy. SEEK expressly bears no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed by you on the Data, or from the use of the Data by you.