With the number of job vacancies in Australia falling, New Zealanders are being warned against moving to the “lucky country”. 

“I’m not sure Aussie is the answer,” said Jonny Peters, director of recruitment agency Hirestaff. 

“My advice is just to do your research and make sure you get a job offer before moving over,” he told the Herald. 

Peters said Kiwi job hunters in Australia he had spoken to recently “haven’t walked into a role” and were “feeling it a little”. 

He said a few ex-recruits of his had moved there but were struggling to find work. Peters said one of his own staff members shifted to Australia and found it so hard that Peters hired him again. 

“It is not a given to walk into something [a job].” 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released job vacancy figures yesterday, revealing they had plummeted compared with just three months ago. 

There were 336,400 vacancies in May and 327,200 in August, representing a fall of 9100, or 2.7%. 

The bureau’s head of labour statistics, Robert Long, said: “Private-sector job vacancies drove this quarter’s movement, falling by 3.4%. Public-sector vacancies went up by 2.2%, which was the fourth increase in a row.” 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released job vacancy figures today, revealing they had plummeted compared with just three months ago. Photo / Jenée Tibshraeny 

Looking at yearly data, the number of vacancies in the year to August fell by 5000. 

“This is a much smaller decrease than the same time last year, when there was a drop of 67,300 vacancies, or 16.9%,” Long said. 

Construction job vacancies were down 12.7% compared with May, and down 22.4% compared with a year ago. 

The number of vacancies in the electricity, gas, water and waste services industry were down 2.7% compared with May, and down 23.6% compared with last year. 

There were 15% fewer vacancies in the financial and insurance services compared with May and 5.2% fewer than last year. 

The mining industry showed a 13.8% drop in job vacancies in the three months to August. Over the year, however, the number of vacancies increased by 2.9%. 

There was also a huge increase in vacancies in manufacturing, with 9.7% more than three months ago and 46% more than a year ago. 

In New Zealand, meanwhile, the number of advertised job vacancies in the year to the June quarter fell by 7.6%. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said its “jobs online” dataset showed a decline of 21.7% in the year to the March quarter. 

Peters, of Hirestaff, said people worried about finding work here and feeling pushed to make the leap to Australia should wait before rushing across the Ditch. 

He said it would be concerning when job prospects here start turning and “half your workforce is going to be over there”. 

“If people can hang tight in New Zealand for just a bit longer, there will be opportunities coming up.” 

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.