One job, 1000 applicants: Jobseekers’ battle not improving

Ata Patene says she's been looking for a job for more than a year without any luck.

She has experience working in retail and hospitality and has tried applying for jobs through Seek, Indeed and in response to Facebook ads, as well as emailing companies directly.

"I also applied in person, and attended 15 or 20 interviews, but barely ever get a call back. Even McDonald's didn't see fit to hire me, and other fast-food restaurants. I've also applied for volunteer positions, but was rejected from those as well."

She said recruitment agencies had ghosted her and sometimes she ran out of job ads to apply for.

She said it was "incredibly challenging".

"The emotional toll is significant, job hunting has taken over my life with more rejection letters than call backs.

"I've been scammed while applying for work, which has made matters worse and added to my frustration.

"I'm currently reliant on a benefit, but I'm not allowed to study full-time without risking my payments being cut off. This limitation makes it challenging for me to upskill and improve my employability."

Patene said she was at a breaking point and feeling hopeless. She wanted to be able to earn an income to help support her family.

"I'm willing to work for anyone, doing anything legal and appropriate. I'm flexible with regards to pay, hours and days – I'm open to overtime, part-time, full-time or casual work.

"I'm desperate for an opportunity to get back on my feet."

She said she had been told that one job she applied for in a mall had thousands of applicants.

Data from Trade Me shows that Patene's experience is not unusual.

In the past year, jobs on the site had attracted significant numbers of applications.

An ad for an IHC Calf and Rural Scheme administrative assistant in Southland drew 998, an Idea Services support worker ad in Waikato had 753, and Farro Fresh received 740 applications for its ad for Christmas casuals.

Ikea, which is due to open in Auckland soon, is working to hire 500 staff but media have reported that more than 15,000 people had applied to work there.

Seek data shows application numbers for sport and recreation jobs are up 32% year-on-year, science and technology up 22%, and insurance and superannuation up 29%.

BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said the labour market was a tough place to be.

"Even when we look at the hard numbers what we're seeing is job advertisements not really going anywhere. They're about 50% down from the peak and holding around those 11-year lows now for about a year.

"I don't think the job market has got any worse but it's still very weak.

"I think fewer vacancies coupled with the fact the working age population continues to grow means the competition for the jobs that are out there is intense."

He said surveys showed businesses said they intended to hire more people over the coming 12 months but that had not happened yet.

"Those job advertisements have yet to pick up at all. I think the first thing that needs to happen is a firmer recovery in the activity side of the economy which seems to be experiencing a couple of wobbles through the middle part of the year.

"The labour market being the lagging part of the economy that it is, it's probably late this year or early next before we see any clear evidence the labour market is picking up again."

He said the "discouraged worker effect" could be seen in falling labour participation rates.

For men, the labour force participation rate is 75.1% and for women it is 66.6%.

A year ago, that number was 75.8% for men and 67.3% for women.

Just under 13% of people aged 15 to 24 were not in employment, education or training in the March quarter.

"Unemployment at 5% might understate the weakness in the labour market because people are being discouraged and dropping out of the labour force.

"Stopping looking for jobs, doing other things, going to training or moving overseas.

"All that tends to go hand-in-hand with a weak labour market. That's going to be with us for a wee while yet."