It’s going to be a short one from me today. Not because I don’t have anything to say. Quite the contrary. Typically, something happens in my working week, or I read something in the news, that inspires the Friday blog. When all I see are tales of an over-privileged show jumping ponce escaping lockdown, and David f*cking Seymour, it’s very difficult for me to write something upbeat and /or original. If I have to blog about these guys, I fear I’ll talk myself into climbing a bell tower armed with a rifle and dressed in a clown suit. So instead, here’s a few numbers which have piqued my interest over the last few weeks. Some good, some bad, and in no specific order, they at least paint a partial picture of the economic and social landscape of Aotearoa right now.
12%: SEEK saw a 12% drop on ad volumes month on month between July and August. 12% may seem a lot, but when most of us were working at 12% above capacity, this represents a dab on the brakes, not a “throw an anchor out the window” like last lockdown. It looks like, in the most part, we’ve figured out how to keep hiring during lockdown. Well done, have a cookie.
57%: …and following from the above, last month saw 57% more ads being placed on SEEK than in August last year. What a difference a year makes. Incidentally, we’re also 11% above what we did in August 2019. So us Recruiters should all stop complaining.
93,000: Or roughly 2 % of the population of New Zealand were vaccinated on the 27th August alone. What an achievement, and hats off to anyone involved in rolling out the vaccine. Actually, hats off to anyone who’s got one, and more about those who won’t later.
12%: On a less positive note, 12% of Kiwis would favour the Granny-killing racist midget David Seymour to run the country. What a time to be alive. Smarmy rich but bitter aunty Judith Collins languishes on only 10%.
90%: The vaccination target finally announced by Daddy Bloomfield. In recruitment parlance, is this your threshold/desk fee, or is it a stretch target? I certainly see us in the 80s, but we’ll need a massive final quarter with a few floats to land in order to make the 90 mark. Especially if we’re to believe the next number…
7.4%: The percentage of eligible Kiwis who will never get vaccinated, no matter what. Please….someone fetch my rifle and clown suit. Add to this the 14% who say they’re “unlikely” or “unsure”, and that 90% figure is looking like that $200k quarter you keep promising. Jacinda’s usually slick PR machine is going to have to go into overdrive or we’re all holidaying in Rotorua ad infinitum.
0%: The number of Recruiters I know of who have lost their job during the Delta lockdown. In Lockdown 1, our phones here at Rice HQ rang off the hook, predominantly with agency recruiters looking for employment and wanting to go in-house. Unfortunately, many in-house recruiters were in the same situation. However, then something remarkable happened. New Zealand opened back up, and it was as if Covid never happened. The industry boomed, and once again, Recruiters were in hot demand. Dare I say, some firms may have even regretted the hastiness of their cut-throat approach in slashing headcount. I’ve since seen lesser recruiters being hired 6 weeks ago than some of those who were dismissed in Covid 1. And, touch wood, we seem to have learnt a lesson. Recruiters are being looked after, people aren’t panicking, and businesses are still hiring. Great news, and only slightly marred by the 12% of you who like David Seymour.
Have a good Friday, and be kind to Aucklanders.
^SW
