Asia-Pacific

New Zealand companies plan to hire more staff

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-25 10:29
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WELLINGTON: Improved confidence in the economic recovery is prompting some New Zealand companies to start to take on more staff.

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A survey by Hudson Recruitment of more than 1200 employers showed almost 20 percent planed to hire more permanent staff in the next three months, Radio New Zealand reported on Monday.

That's almost 9 percent more than three months ago.

And the number of employers looking to cut staff has fallen - down to about 8 percent - from just over 11 percent three months ago.

Hudson said businesses appeared to be putting the hard times behind them.

The New Zealand economic improvement is being led by the IT industry, but even the manufacturing and financial sectors are showing signs of recovery.

About 150,000 New Zealanders are currently unemployed, and some economists expect the dole queue to keep growing for another six months.