Entry-level jobs are scarce, but is senior hiring booming?
A quarter of teenagers looking for work can't find it. Stats NZ figures show 25.3% of 15 to 19-year-olds in the labour force were unemployed in the June 2026 quarter, up from 23.0% a year earlier.
For 20 to 24-year-olds, the rate rose from 9.8% to 12.0% over the same period. So if the bottom rung is crowded, is the top of the ladder booming? The data says no, though it does show older workers holding their ground.
Young workers are taking the hit
Across all ages, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.6% in the June 2026 quarter, up from 5.4% in the March quarter, per Stats NZ. The number of unemployed people aged 15 to 24 rose 19.5% in the year to June 2026, an extra 12,200 people.
Wider measures point the same way. Stats NZ counted 180,200 underutilised people aged 15 to 24 in the June 2026 quarter, up from 158,600 a year earlier. That measure adds part-timers who want more hours, and people who want work but aren't counted as unemployed.
There's one small bright spot. The share of 15 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training eased to 13.8% in the June 2026 quarter, from 14.4% in the March quarter.
Benefit numbers have climbed over a longer stretch. Ministry of Social Development figures show 48,045 people aged 18 to 24 were on Jobseeker Support at the end of June 2026. That's about the same as a year earlier, but up from 33,720 at the end of June 2023.
Senior roles are steadier, not booming
Stats NZ doesn't measure seniority, but it does publish unemployment by age. In the June 2026 quarter, the unemployment rate for every five-year age group from 35 to 64 sat between 2.7% and 3.9%, similar to or lower than a year earlier. These figures aren't seasonally adjusted, so Stats NZ recommends comparing the same quarter across years.
Job ads tell a similar story in MBIE's Jobs Online index, which sorts online job ads by skill level. In the year to the June 2026 quarter, ads for highly skilled roles rose 6.8%, in line with the 7% rise for all ads and behind unskilled roles at 12.1%. Ads for managers rose 4.6%.
The longer view is weaker. Between the June 2023 and June 2026 quarters, highly skilled ads fell 30%, and ads across all skill levels fell 34%, per MBIE.
Pay growth isn't booming either. Stats NZ's labour cost index shows salary and wage rates rose 2.0% in the year to June 2026, while consumer prices rose 4.1% over the same year. That measure covers all workers, not just senior staff.
Candidates are still competing hard for what's on offer. SEEK's September 2026 Employment Report found applications per job ad rose 2.9% in August, the sharpest monthly rise since April 2024. "This suggests competition for roles remains high, even as hiring activity holds steady," says David Swift, SEEK NZ sales manager.
SEEK's job ads were up 7.8% on September 2025. Mining, resources and energy led the annual growth at 41.4%, and professional services was the only sector to fall between August and September.
Where skills are in short supply
Some fields are still short of skilled people. Recruiter Hays, in the engineering snapshot of its FY26/27 Salary Guide, found 75% of New Zealand engineering organisations had skills shortages over the past 12 months. It says demand remains strong in civil, transport, geotechnical and infrastructure work.
Seniority pays in that field. Hays says graduate and drafting roles typically start from around $70,000, while group managers and principals can earn up to $250,000. It also notes that chartered professional engineer status is often a prerequisite for lead, principal and senior technical roles.
Hays says that demand has held up despite a more measured hiring environment. Clare Weston, a business director at Hays, says salary growth has stayed positive, but persistent skills shortages mean employers need to keep investing in attracting and keeping staff.