Based on the average advertised salary, some people received significant pay increases.
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A weak labour market has meant that many people have had small pay rises – or none at all – over the past year.
Seventy percent of workers received a pay rise of less than the rate of inflation last year, the CTU says, and 44 percent did not get a pay rise at all.
But some people received significant pay bumps, if data from Seek is anything to go by.
It said, based on the average advertised salary between September and December 2024 and the same period last year, handlers in manufacturing, transport and logistics had the biggest increase, at 15.5 percent to an average $58,240.
Systems engineers had a 12.8 percent increase, to $118,608. Educators, a wider group than teachers, had a 12 percent increase to an average $72,010.
Both maintenance technicians and process operators lifted more than 1 percent. Property managers were up 10.8 percent and planners 9.6 percent.
Health improvement practitioners, medical technologists, marketing specialists, ICT support analysts, manufacturing, transport and logistics planners, GPs and catering assistants also recorded increases more than twice the rate of inflation.
GPs had the highest overall pay of the roles listed, at an average $220,935.
Seek senior economist Blair Chapman said the growth in roles like catering and kitchen assistants was prompted by the ongoing recovery of tourism.
“The tourism growth in 2025, alongside growth in exports, also likely supported faster advertised salary growth in the manufacturing, transport and logistics industry, with roles like handler and process operator experiencing notable salary growth.
“The healthcare a medical industry saw demand grow steadily in 2025, recovering from its post-Covid low in December 2024. Alongside an increasing share of older Kiwis, who will drive an increase in the demand for healthcare, this saw some relatively quick advertised salary growth for roles like health improvement practitioner.”
Seek said there had been 20.1 percent growth in the number of job ads for construction year-on-year in January and 16.5 percent in industrial roles.
BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said the salary growth in the areas highlighted could be due to a mismatch between the skills required and those available among jobseekers.
“Firms are already reporting more difficulty finding skilled labour, which feels a touch early given the economic recovery is only just getting going.
“It’s clear the labour market overall remains weak, with wage growth likely to remain suppressed for a while yet. But there are clearly some skill mismatches out there putting some upward pressure on wages in certain parts. This seems to be more a story about limited labour supply – in part driven by several years of low net migration – than a sudden jump in labour demand.”
Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said he regularly heard stories from businesses who found it hard to access specialised skills.
“Aggregate surveys indicate that while unskilled labour is widely available, skilled labour is tightening a little. Ongoing inward migration from foreigners points to that unmet demand.”
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