Photo: RNZ

Angela has spent most of this year looking for work.

She had a fixed-term contract that expired in June, but started looking for her next job in January, knowing the end date was approaching.

This 46-year-old woman, who has been working since the age of 16, specializes in the arts and culture sector and holds a master’s degree.

She expanded her search this year to other sectors and estimates she applied to about 70 positions in project management, communications and engagement positions with nonprofits and other organizations.

Recruitment sites showed there were hundreds of other applicants for the positions. There were nearly 1,000 for an operations coordinator position.

She was selected for seven jobs.

“I was looking for work as the public sector cuts were taking place, so I thought there would be plenty of people like me with my skills also looking for work.”

RNZ has agreed not to identify Angela because although she has now found two part-time positions, they are contract positions and she is still looking for permanent employment for when those positions expire .

She said she did the JobSeeker Support program for a few months and found managing work and income demoralizing.

“The first time I arrived the social worker told me I had to cancel a working weekend I had booked and that I would pay myself. Because to be on JobSeeker I had to be prepared to take any job…I was worried if I did what they told me, I would lose income and damage my reputation.”

She worked with business mentors who helped her make networking connections, and she reached out to everyone she had worked with as an entrepreneur to ask for job leads. “Lots of support but no words.”

Another job seeker, who asked to remain anonymous because he found a new job this week, said he was about to leave the country due to the difficulty of finding work.

He spent five months looking for a new position after a contract with a ministry ended.

With the arrival of a new baby, he and his family were about to put their house up for sale and try their luck in the UK or Dubai, but his latest attempt was unsuccessful.

“It’s more than hard, it’s nightmarish,” he said.

He said he often goes to an interview that he thinks is positive and then receives an insulting and generic email from the company’s human resources department.

He applied to 50 jobs and had about 25 interviews, he said. On several occasions, the company decided not to hire anyone.

“It’s also a real thing: They have this opportunity and then say no, we can probably wait until the new year and put it on hold.”

New Zealand’s labor market is increasingly weak. The unemployment rate reached 4.8 percent in the September quarter and the participation rate fell to 71.2 percent and the employment rate to 67.8 percent.

Among people who are not working, the number of people who say it is because they are studying increased to 57.3% in the third quarter of this year, from 50.9% at the start of the year. But the number of people who are not working because of their own illness has also increased, from 46.6 percent at the start of the year to 50.6 percent. The proportion of people saying they were not looking for work because there was no work available also increased.

Sabrina Delgado, an economist at Kiwibank, said the employment rate was expected to be 5.5 per cent in the second half of next year.

“But only when economic activity picks up in the second half of 2026 will we see unemployment start to fall.

“In terms of who’s hit the hardest, it’s actually the construction industry that’s bearing the brunt. Construction jobs accounted for just under a quarter of job losses. total employment over the past year This confirms what we are hearing and there is not much to say given the state of the real estate market. continued high construction costs and a persistently high interest rate environment lead to major setbacks in construction and, ultimately, numerous downsizings in construction companies.

She said there had also been significant job losses in professional and administrative support roles, like Angela’s.

“Their job losses accounted for just under 20 percent of total job losses over the past year. Probably because businesses have had to scale back operations in the face of falling demand.”

About 13 percent of the job losses were in the retail and hospitality sector.

“But we are starting to see a slight improvement in consumer confidence and retail sales in the latest data thanks to falling interest rates – which should provide some relief.”

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said rising unemployment was hitting young people particularly hard.

This was especially a problem for those who had recently graduated and were ready to enter the workforce.

“Every time we face a recession, we see an impact on the cohort reaching the age of entry into the workforce. Their career prospects are shaken. They might not be able to get a job, they can’t apply the skills they have. There may be a healing effect that takes time to wear off. »

He added that there could be a situation where a group of graduates struggle to find employment and are then joined the following year by another cohort with whom they have to compete.

If the broader job market was tough and more experienced people were willing to do the work, it would be difficult for new entrants to compete.

Year-on-year, the number of people employed in the labor force aged 15 to 19 fell by 11.7 percent. Those aged 20 to 24 fell 5.3 percent and those aged 25 to 29 fell 7.6 percent.

Recruiter Shannon Barlow, managing director of Frog, said that when businesses experienced tougher conditions, they were more likely to want to reduce their risks and seek to get the most out of any new employees, so they were more likely to choose someone who had experience.

But Eaqub said he was optimistic about the future.

“Interest rates are falling, we are solving the problems we have now, weak companies are going bankrupt – everything that should happen in a recession is happening.”

He said companies that do this could position themselves now to take advantage of the recovery when it comes.

“There’s a lot of choice and you have time on your side to train people so they’re ready to hit the ground running when demand comes back.”