A ‘turning tide’ in New Zealand’s job market

It’s no secret that for young people, getting any sort of job is tough going at the moment.

Amidst job cuts and a spluttering economy, unemployment for 15-24 year olds is sitting just shy of 13% according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though, according to job listing website Student Job Search’s CEO Louise Saviker.

She said their website has seen an “extraordinary” 28% increase of job listings compared to this time last year, taking them to numbers scantly seen since pre-COVID days.

“It’s just absolutely delightful to finally see the tide is turning.”

Saviker also said they’ve seen a 68% increase in job applications for the same time period, something she’s whittled down to the cost-of-living crisis, and more notably, the style of work that’s out there.

“Employers [are] moving away from permanent part-time and full-time and more to casual and fixed-term work.”

“There's work to be got, but it's much harder to get it, and then it tends to be short-term. For students, it's really about being flexible and applying for those one-off roles, perhaps the small part-time work, or maybe there's a job that's been advertised just for two weeks.”

Louise Saviker is delighted to see the tide turning. Photo: Supplied

UC student Sarah Boles de Boer is certainly fits in that category of grabbing opportunities by the scruff of the collar.

Like many students, she didn’t want the rigidness of rostered hours due to ever shifting uni hours, so she applied for a one-off job sewing gazebos up.

She now works part-time as a regional manager for the same company, something she didn’t see coming at all when she first signed up.

“He just kept asking me if I wanted to work and I was just like, yes.”

Boles de Boer said her success can be put down to being consistent and saying yes at every turn, which creates your own doors to open.

“If you do a good job, they'll ask you around next Saturday and the Saturday after. Next thing you know, it's pretty consistent, which is good.”

She additionally preached the importance of following up on an application, especially in an age of employers giving applicants the good ol’ ghost.

It worked for her, as after not hearing back for a brand representative role, she simply went into the store to buy a product and posed an off-the-cuff question about the status. She received a call the following day to confirm an interview time and ended up landing the job.

Saviker said stories like Boles de Boer’s are a snapshot of employers being “keen to employ students” for job roles, a notion she pushes hard in her work.

“I actually go and talk with employers quite a bit and do some presentations with employers because the main thing is that this generation are absolutely amazing.”

“When I go and talk with employers is really to try and talk with them about what they're finding challenging and then help them break down the sort of the barriers that they're finding to meet Gen Z halfway.”

Topics such as work-life balance and flexibility in hours and location are just some of those barriers Saviker looks to to bridge the gap, especially with an upcoming summer period when employers may see an annual-leave driven shrinkage.

“They can have a readily available workforce that will basically turn up tomorrow. Students are perfect options for scaling up businesses to cover that period.”

When those opportunities do present themselves, it’s supremely important to create a “point of difference” on the CV and cover letter, as well as not letting rejection be the be all and end all, Boles de Boer said.

“You're just a name on a piece of paper. You've got to make that piece of paper stand out as much as you can.”

“Everything happens for a reason, and what is meant for you will be… rejection is redirection.”