by Metropol | October 15, 2025 8:30 am
The South Island, in particular the Otago region, is currently driving New Zealand’s employment expansion, underscoring the growing importance of opportunities beyond Auckland and Wellington.
Starting from a smaller base, the South Island is punching above its weight with strong job creation, while the more established North Island has recorded steady but subdued gains.
This is according to the latest annual report from global recruitment and HR company, Employment Hero. Its annual jobs report is created from first-party data from across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It provides an aggregated, anonymised real-time view of employee records from 350,000 small and medium-sized businesses employing over two million people across these three markets.
The report states that, over the past 12 months, the South Island delivered impressive employment growth, ending July at 5.4% YoY, compared with 0.6% for the North Island. Otago has emerged as an unexpected hotspot fuelled by tourism recovery, agriculture, and regional investment. After a quiet 2024, the region surged to 19.4% YoY employment growth by July 2025 – making it the fastest-growing SME job market in the country this year. This illustrates the extent to which regional economies are now shaping New Zealand’s labour market. This regional dynamism reflects broader global trends where smaller markets and non-capital cities are shouldering more of the employment rebound.
Confidence, however, remains weak. In New Zealand, 62% of workers said they now prioritise job security over ambition, higher than Australia’s 57%. Older workers and part-timers feel this most acutely, with 64% of over-55s doubting they could find another role quickly. Yet those who started a new job in the past 12 months were 33% more likely to feel optimistic, suggesting mobility remains a key lever for restoring confidence.
To download the full report, go to employmenthero.com/resources/reports.
Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/on-top-down-south-the-south-island-drives-nzs-employment-expansion/
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