The labour market
Auckland's workforce
Jobs in Auckland by broad skill level
| 2023 | 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highly-skilled | 379,863 | 390,195 | 2.7% |
| Skilled | 131,691 | 135,728 | 3.1% |
| Semi-skilled | 133,214 | 137,129 | 2.9% |
| Low-skilled | 326,484 | 335,029 | 2.6% |
Source: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile
Auckland’s workforce by ethnicity
| 2024 Q3 | 2025 Q3 | |
|---|---|---|
| European | 518,900 | 493,100 |
| Māori | 102,400 | 102,500 |
| Pacific | 112,900 | 132,800 |
| Asian | 371,700 | 381,500 |
Source: StatsNZ: Household Labour Force Survey
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s workforce is growing, and continues to become more diverse and skilled.
Employment has shown consistently robust growth in Auckland over the last decade, with highly skilled jobs making up an increased proportion of the workforce. Auckland’s labour force demographics have also shifted significantly, driven by immigration from Asia and a growing Māori and Pacific workforce. The challenging economic climate has led to rising unemployment in recent quarters, however.
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Nearly 1 million people are employed in Auckland in 2025 (Q1), 34% of the New Zealand total. A further 68,000 people are unemployed, an increase of nearly 18,000 over the last 12 months.
The number of people employed has increased by nearly 100,000 since 2019 but has declined by approximately 10,000 over the last 12 months due to growing unemployment.
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Auckland’s workforce continues to become more diverse.
The Asian workforce has increased by 73,000 since Q1 2023, but growth has slowed down in recent quarters. This growth is forecast to continue based on population and immigration projections.
There has been a modest increase in the number of Māori and Pacific peoples in Auckland’s workforce since 2023, while European workforce numbers continue to decline.
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Over half of Auckland’s jobs were either ‘high skilled’ or ‘skilled’ in 2024, while ‘low skilled’ jobs were around 34%.²
This is more skewed toward ‘high skilled’ jobs than the rest of New Zealand.
The largest increase in the year to March 2024 was seen in ‘high skilled’ jobs (+10,300). This has been the case every year since 2001.
In 2024, 36% of jobs in Auckland were ‘knowledge-intensive’, higher than the rest of New Zealand (31%). This gap is driven by a stronger concentration of IT, management and engineering professionals in Auckland.
2. High skilled occupations typically require a Bachelors degree or higher qualification. They include professionals such as accountants, teachers and engineers, as well as most managers and executives. This category is consistent with skill level one of the Australia New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). Low skilled occupations typically require an NZ Register Level 3 qualification or lower. They include a range of lower skilled occupations from general clerks, caregivers, sales assistants, cleaners and labourers. This category is consistent with skill level four and five of the ANZSCO classification.
Sources: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile. Auckland unemployment and participation rate – StatsNZ: Household Labour Force Survey.
Employment trends
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 123,000 | 124,600 |
| Construction | 102,900 | 107,200 |
| Health care and social assistance | 88,600 | 91,400 |
| Retail trade | 85,200 | 87,200 |
| Manufacturing | 84,600 | 84,500 |
| Education and training | 68,200 | 70,300 |
| Wholesale trade | 66,100 | 67,000 |
| Accommodation and food services | 59,700 | 63,500 |
| Administrative and support services | 56,100 | 57,300 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 43,800 | 47,300 |
| Financial and insurance services | 40,900 | 42,200 |
| Public administration and safety | 38,500 | 39,700 |
| Other services | 35,300 | 36,000 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 25,900 | 26,100 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 22,800 | 22,800 |
| Arts and recreation services | 15,600 | 16,800 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 7,400 | 7,500 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 6,000 | 6,100 |
| Mining | 400 | 400 |
Employment by industry in Auckland
Source: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile
While Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is overwhelmingly a service-based economy, growth has not necessarily been driven by service industries.
Auckland has a predominantly service-based economy, although employment isn’t always concentrated in the areas with the highest GDP contribution. More labour-intensive industries such as construction (1st), retail (4th) and hospitality (5th) have seen large employment growth over the last decade and, as a result, the proportion of employment in higher-value service industries has remained the same.
While there has been relatively less employment growth in industries such as ‘financial and insurance services’ and ‘information media and telecommunications’, they rank 3rd and 4th, respectively for contribution to Auckland’s GDP growth over the last decade. This reflects the differences in labour productivity (GDP per worker) across industries.
The year to March 2024 saw continued recovery in employment in industries hit harder by the pandemic (e.g., hospitality, transport and logistics, education and training). ‘Construction’ and ‘health care and social assistance’ also saw strong employment growth, while manufacturing saw a slight decline and the increase in jobs in services was more subdued. However, national-level filled jobs data up to March 2025 suggest that the recent economic downturn has led to a large decline in construction jobs, as well as a fall in hospitality, retail, professional services, and administrative services.
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Employment growth in Auckland was positive across all industries except manufacturing in the year to March 2024.
‘Transport, postal and warehousing’ was the fastest growing industry (7.4%) in Auckland, closely followed by ‘arts and recreation services’ (7.1%).
‘Manufacturing’ saw a slight decrease of – 0.01% (140 jobs) but remains the fifth largest employer in the region, accounting for 8.5% of total employment.
National-level filled jobs data up to March 2025 shows that the increase in unemployment over the last 12 months has been most evident in ‘information media and telecommunications’ (-7.5% decline in filled jobs), ‘construction’ (-6.1%) and ‘administration and support services’ (-5.7%).
Auckland is a service-intensive region. In 2024, nearly 80% of the workforce was employed in service industries, compared to 72% across the rest of New Zealand.
Auckland has a comparative advantage in sectors such as insurance, finance, information media and telecommunications.
The primary industries employ only 0.8% of the region’s workforce. This is significantly lower than the rest of the country (7.9%).
Sources: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile
Labour market trends
Unemployment and labour force participation rates in Auckland
(year end annual averages)
Source: StatsNZ: Household Labour Force Survey.
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is experiencing rising unemployment and declining labour force participation, amid continuing economic challenges.
Auckland has a labour force participation rate of 73 per cent, which means nearly three-quarters of working age (15-64) Aucklanders have or are seeking a job. Of the total labour force, of 1.06 million people, 68,000 (6.4%) were unemployed in the March 2025 quarter. The annual average unemployment rate for the year to March 2025 (5.4%) is a percentage point below this, however, with the quarterly unemployment rate seeing a particularly large jump in March 2025 compared to previous quarters. The quarterly unemployment rate has climbed to its highest level since 2015, and the discrepancy between Auckland and the rest of New Zealand’s unemployment rate (4.9%) of 1.5 percentage points is the largest gap seen since 2010. The discrepancy between the annual average unemployment rate for the year to March 2025 is not as marked, but still the highest we have seen since 2015.
Auckland’s labour force participation rate remains above that of the rest of New Zealand, as has been the case since the pandemic. While labour force participation has declined over the last 12 months, it is still above pre-pandemic levels.
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Auckland’s labour force participation rate was 73% in Q1 of 2025.
This is lower than in 2023 (74%), although still relatively high historically (e.g., 70%, on average, from 2014-2019).
This is higher than the New Zealand-wide value (72%).
Male participation is higher than female (78% vs 68%) in Q1 of 2025. Female participation has fallen slightly more over the last 12 months, but the gap is still smaller than it was in the years prior to the pandemic.
Participation rates have fallen the most among Māori over the last 12 months, followed by those of European ethnicity. The participation rate for the Asian ethnic group has remained stable, while the participation rate for Pacific peoples has increased.
Māori now have the lowest participation rate in Auckland (66%), followed by Pacific Peoples (68%).
Asian (77%) labour force participation is the highest of the major ethnic groups, and has overtaken European participation since the pandemic.
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Auckland’s unemployment rate was 6.4% in Q1 2025, up from 4.8% in Q1 2024.
This is well above the national rate (5.4%) and that of the rest of New Zealand (4.9%)
An additional 18,000 Aucklanders are unemployed compared to 12 months ago, the biggest annual increase since 2015.
The unemployment gap to the rest of New Zealand of 1.5 percentage points is the highest seen since 2010. The gap between the annual average unemployment rates for the year to March 2025 (5.4% v 4.9%) is not as marked, but still the highest we have seen since 2015.
Male unemployment (5.1%) is slightly lower than female unemployment (5.6%) but the gap has narrowed over the last year.
The European ethnicity group has the lowest unemployment rate (3.9%), followed by Asian (5.0%). Māori unemployment is up to 11.5%, while the Pacific unemployment rate is 10.1%.
Earnings
Mean annual earnings and growth in Auckland (March Year, nominal values)
Average earnings in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland continue to grow at more than the rate of inflation, increasing by 5.6 per cent in the year to March 2024.
The average Auckland employee currently earns around $86,000 annually. This is higher than the rest of New Zealand, although lower than for Wellington employees. Earnings have continued to grow over time, and the period since 2021 has seen above-inflation growth – increasing average real incomes for Aucklanders. National-level weekly earnings data up to March 2025 suggest average earnings have likely increased again over the last 12 months but less than in previous years due to a tighter job market.
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The average Auckland employee earns $86,000 annually (year to March 2024), an increase of 5.6% compared to the previous year.
This is 13% greater than the average employee across the rest of New Zealand ($75,000).
Average earnings in Wellington are slightly higher ($87,000) than in Auckland
Auckland has strong clusters of highly paid jobs in certain industries.
The average wage among Auckland’s leading ICT companies was $106,000 according to 2022 data from the Technology Investment Network (TIN).
Auckland has a strong concentration of employment in high-paying service industries relative to the rest of New Zealand, e.g., ‘information media and telecommunications’ and ‘financial and insurance services’.
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The Auckland growth rate of mean annual earnings has fallen from 7.2% in the year to March 2023 to 5.6% in the year to March 2024.
The rest of New Zealand has also experienced lower earnings growth compared to 2023, albeit slightly higher (5.8%) than Auckland.
Wellington’s earnings growth was also higher than Auckland’s at 6.1%.
National-level weekly earnings data up to March 2025 suggest average earnings have likely increased again over the last 12 months but less than in previous years due to a tighter job market.
Since the pandemic, earnings have increased 5.3% p.a., on average in Auckland, and 5.2.% p.a. across the rest of New Zealand. In the decade prior to the pandemic, earnings growth across the rest of New Zealand outpaced Auckland slightly.
Sources:Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile. Auckland unemployment and participation rate – StatsNZ: Household Labour Force Survey.
Auckland Economic Monitor
A summary of key economic information about the region
Auckland’s economy
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![Economic activity]()
Economic activity
While Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s economy continued to grow in the year to March 2024, provisional estimates show a slight decline in economic output over the last 12 months.
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![Businesses]()
Businesses
GDP output per worker (labour productivity) in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland fell (in real terms) -0.7 per cent in the year to March 2024 and has likely stagnated or declined slightly in the year to March 2025.
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![The labour market]()
The labour market
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s workforce is growing, and continues to become more diverse and skilled.
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![Economic confidence]()
Economic confidence
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland's consumer confidence has fluctuated over the last 12 months, as part of a complex - yet promising - trend in sentiment.
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![Visitor economy]()
Visitor economy
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland offers the first taste of New Zealand for many international visitors. International tourism has recovered strongly, but it is not yet back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
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![Community]()
Community
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is a young, diverse and growing region. It is home to 34 per cent of New Zealand’s population.
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Emissions
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland's ongoing efforts to manage and reduce emissions are part of its commitment to a greener and more sustainable future.
