It is important for a workforce to be mobile to be able to respond to both one-off and cyclical changes in demand for their labour. This study explores the mobility of New Zealand’s trades workforce. In recent years we have found a net flow of experienced workers out of main city centers, mostly Auckland and Canterbury, while the smaller regions of Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Northland have seen a significant influx of workers.
Over time, New Zealand’s demand for different labour types shifts. This demand change may be one-off or cyclical and can occur in different parts of New Zealand. This demonstrates the importance of a mobile workforce that can migrate to where they are needed. For instance, following the events of the Christchurch earthquakes the rebuild saw a high demand for the construction workforce and the mobility of the workforce responded to this showing an influx of workers into Canterbury during this period.
Workers are taken IRD tax records each calendar year. Their location during the time of work is the region they have spent the longest time over the year of work. Movements are tracked to the region they spend the longest time in year after being found in the workforce, regardless of whether they are still working in the trades.
Overseas movements for 2020 are not reported due to incomplete overseas spells records, meaning we cannot determine whether many spells are short term holidays or long term movements.
The following chart shows the flow of workers between the main centers in New Zealand. It is clear to see from this chart that the biggest movement is no movement. Each year 90 - 95% of workers will remain in the same region in the following year. Smaller regions are grouped into an other category, however breakdown of flows into each region are available further below.
Methodology
Year cycle: Calendar year
Note: Overseas movements for 2018 are not reported as 2019's overseas spells records are incomplete, meaning we cannot see return dates for many trips and cannot distinguish whether they are short term holidays or long term spells.
Workforces are defined from IRD tax records each year. These workers are matched to the regional council they have spent the most time in over the year they are working as well as the following year, regardless if they are still working in the industry. Flows of workers are tracked between these regions.
Of those workers who migrated in the following year we breakdown movements based on their employment status. Self-employed workers includes sole-traders, contractors and employers. Overall, employees are more likely to move both overseas, and regionally compared to their self-employed counterparts.
Methodology
Year cycle: Calendar year
Note: Overseas movements for 2018 are not reported as 2019's overseas spells records are incomplete, meaning we cannot see return dates for many trips and cannot distinguish whether they are short term holidays or long term spells.
Workforces are defined from IRD tax records each year. These workers are matched to the regional council they have spent the most time in over the year they are working as well as the following year, regardless if they are still working in the industry. Flows of workers are tracked between these regions.
The below chart summaries the inflows and outflows of trades workers within a region each year, showing the origin of new workers, and destination of workers leaving. When the counts of workers moving between regions are low, instead of being suppressed they are summarized into an 'Other' category.
Methodology
Year cycle: Calendar year
Note: Overseas movements for 2018 are not reported as 2019's overseas spells records are incomplete, meaning we cannot see return dates for many trips and cannot distinguish whether they are short term holidays or long term spells.
Workforces are defined from IRD tax records each year. These workers are matched to the regional council they have spent the most time in over the year they are working as well as the following year, regardless if they are still working in the industry. Flows of workers are tracked between these regions.
This chart summarizes the net regional flows each year. In recent years there has been a large outflow of workers out of the main centers Auckland and Canterbury, while Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland have had the largest net gain of workers.
The filters on the right allow you to limit the chart to only inflows, outflows, or also consider the outflows overseas.
Methodology
Year cycle: Calendar year
Note: Overseas movements for 2018 are not reported as 2019's overseas spells records are incomplete, meaning we cannot see return dates for many trips and cannot distinguish whether they are short term holidays or long term spells.
Workforces are defined from IRD tax records each year. These workers are matched to the regional council they have spent the most time in over the year they are working as well as the following year, regardless if they are still working in the industry. Flows of workers are tracked between these regions.
This chart summarizes the net regional flows in a region over time. We note that the pattern of experienced workers leaving Auckland has started since 2003, however is only a recent event for Canterbury. This is likely a result of the influx of workers during the Canterbury rebuild period (2011-2014) are now returning to their home regions.
The net inflow of workers into the regions surrounding Auckland (Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland) seems to follow a similar cycle of an outflow between 2011 - 2013, and influx post 2014.
Methodology
Year cycle: Calendar year
Note: Overseas movements for 2018 are not reported as 2019's overseas spells records are incomplete, meaning we cannot see return dates for many trips and cannot distinguish whether they are short term holidays or long term spells.
Workforces are defined from IRD tax records each year. These workers are matched to the regional council they have spent the most time in over the year they are working as well as the following year, regardless if they are still working in the industry. Flows of workers are tracked between these regions.
Access to the data used in this study was provided by Stats NZ under conditions designed to give effect to the security and confidentiality provisions of the Data and Statistics Act 2022. The results presented in this study are the work of the author, not Stats NZ or individual data suppliers.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) which is carefully managed by Stats NZ. For more information about the IDI please visit https://www.stats.govt.nz/integrated-data/.
The results are based in part on tax data supplied by Inland Revenue to Stats NZ under the Tax Administration Act 1994 for statistical purposes. Any discussion of data limitations or weaknesses is in the context of using the IDI for statistical purposes, and is not related to the data's ability to support Inland Revenue's core operational requirements.
