Where will summer jobs be this year?

University students looking for work over the holidays are being told to be proactive about their job hunt - and maybe consider the agricultural sector.

BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said the prospects for holiday jobhunters were likely to be mixed, reflecting the "two-speed" economy more generally. The primary sector has generally been much stronger than the rest of the country in recent times.

"Already, we're seeing stronger filled jobs growth in the agriculture sector, given the positive conditions that still prevail in that sector. By contrast, jobs growth in the retail sector has tended to lag.

"And with the pressure on consumer discretionary spending increasing again, retailers may be cautious about adding staff in the current environment. The recent tick up in job applications per ad we've seen in the Seek data also points to strong competition for jobs."

Seek said advertising for Christmas casual and seasonal job ads started appearing in July and would peak this month. Hospitality and tourism ads were up 3.2 percent month-on-month last month but overall job applications rose at the fastest pace recorded since April 2024.

Seek New Zealand sales manager David Swift said people should take action early if they wanted to lock in summer work. "By September, employers across retail, hospitality and logistics are already ramping up their workforces as they prepare for Black Friday, Christmas trading and the busy summer period."

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said hospitality, primary production and processing were the main seasonal employers. "I think the latter will continue - as they must. On hospitality, it will be patchy due to suppressed domestic spend, both for local spending and domestic tourism."

Cat Peters, of labour hire firm Hirestaff, said it was a very competitive market for people looking for entry level roles.

"Students are competing with a large number of applicants, some of whom may already have relevant experience, which can make it harder to secure a job. We're receiving hundreds of applications a day for entry-level roles and, at the moment, have to turn most applicants away," she said.

She said more short-term opportunities would become available over summer in areas such as logistics and food manufacturing. "Being flexible about the type of work, hours and location can help.

"Our advice to entry-level candidates is to register with several agencies, keep their CV clear and concise, and answer calls from unknown numbers. You'd be surprised how many people don't pick up when we call about a job they've applied for."

Patrick Malley, general manager of Maungatapere Berries, said he and others in the horticulture industry had plenty of seasonal employment available, because good growing condition were expected.

"One thing that is different to previous years is that we are getting a lot of previous seasonal employees contacting us to secure positions in advance - in particular students during summer break - when people would have normally waited for positions to be advertised."

Nicola Waldren, general manager of the Restaurant Association, said summer hiring seemed to have started a little earlier this year.

"Restaurants and cafés are still being careful with staffing decisions, but we are seeing them gearing up their teams for summer. Last year hiring seemed to start later, so this year feels a little more 'normal' in terms of recruitment timing. We run a number of job boards and we noted the summer recruitment ads have been coming through for some time now."

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