Jump in casual job listings, as businesses uncertain about hiring

Source: Radio New Zealand

Job site Seek has seen a big jump in the number casual roles listed on its website, as an economist says uncertain economic times are making businesses reluctant to hire full time staff.

In theory, casual contracts offer flexibility for employers and employees, and work is available as and when it suits both parties – but no hours are guaranteed.

But some workers said the benefits were stacked in favour of the employer and the fluctuating hours made it difficult to get by.

Auckland mother of two Chantelle Williams worked on a casual contract in traffic management, starting her night shift at 9pm when there was work available.

When she started the job she said there were plenty of hours to go around – sometimes as many as 70 per week – but now they had dried up.

“At the moment I am struggling to get to 20 hours hours a week. So over time it just puts more pressure on you. Because you’re falling behind in your financial obligations.”

Williams said the flexibility of the work was a good thing – in theory.

But she said in reality, it was well known at her company that saying no to a shift meant not being offered as many in the future, so she was reluctant to ever turn down work.

“I could get calls in the afternoon saying I need you at work right now. So literally you have no time to do anything else other than grab a shower, jump in the car and go to work.”

That made it difficult for Williams to spend as much time with her kids as she would like.

“I don’t want to miss out on anything to do with my kids. But at the end of the day I do have to provide something to them.”

She would prefer to have a full time job, and had been looking for other work, but had not been able to find anything she was qualified for.

Silke Hartung worked as an attendant for live music events and loved coming to work when there was a shift available.

For Hartung, the flexibility was a big plus.

“I still get to Freelance and work at other events which works very well for me. I run a small business where I sell music earplugs which I can have at the door.”

But she said there were downsides to casual work, such as not getting sick leave and there being quiet times of the year.

“Over summer for example, when there just is no work. You kind of have to prepare for that for the entire rest of the year to prepare for maybe not having two months worth of work.”

Data from Seek showed the number of casual job listings had jumped 59 percent since June 2024.

Infometrics chief economist Brad Olsen said in the current economic climate, many businesses were feeling uncertain about hiring permanent staff.

“They are still quite cautious about where the state of the economy is, how fragile some of those green shoots looked – so opting a bit more for the casual rather than a permanent employee to come in. Just giving businesses a bit more options.”

With the job market looking tough, he said people looking for work were likely taking whatever they could get.

Employment lawyer Charlotte Parkhill said casual contracts meant work was on an “as and when required basis”.

However some businesses would sign an employee on to a casual contract without realising they could be considered permanent under law, she said.

“The person involved might work every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for two years and the employer calls it casual, and that means they’re not truly casual, they’re actually a part time employee… because you’ve got that pattern.”

Employers needed to make sure casual roles they were hiring for were genuinely casual, or they could get themselves into trouble, she said.

Brad Olsen said Infometrics’ analysis showed at the end of 2025 casual employees made up 4.9 percent of the workforce, the highest since 2021.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand