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Manufacturers and white collar workers waiting for wave of unemployment to turn

Employers and Manufacturers Association head of advocacy Alan McDonald says there's been a spike in calls to its advice line about redundancies and restructures since March. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook Auckland's grim unemployment figures are no surpise to one of the city's business leaders. The latest figures show Auckland's 6.1 percent unemployment rate for the June 2025 quarter is the worst of all regions. About 15,000 more Aucklanders are without a job than this time last year. Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) head of advocacy Alan McDonald said while the agriculture industry was bolstering employment elsewhere, Auckland had different economic drivers. "Numbers from the Auckland Council Economic Unit indicated unemployment would be quite high [in the June quarter] and it has been for some time. "There are some signs of recovery but they're being led by the regional economy and primary sector and Auckland is more about manufacturing and services. "Hospitality, tourism, education sectors have all been down as well." McDonald said EMA had recieved a spike in calls to its advice line about redundancies and restructures since March. "We had hoped 5.1 [in December 2024] might be the bottom of Auckland's unemployment numbers, but we've been hearing from March until now that things are still very tight and very tough." He expected it would take some time for primary sector growth to benefit Auckland's economy. "It flows through quicker into Christchurch because it's the service sector for the ag' industry ... Tauranga is picking up a bit on the back of exports. It takes a bit longer to reach its way into Auckland. "We're all getting a bit sick of waiting. But things are starting to turn ." Meanwhile, a Christchurch man desperately looking for work said he had applied for hundreds of jobs without success. The nationwide unemployment rate has hit 5.2 percent, the highest in almost five years with 156,000 people out of work. Insurance adjustor James Brown moved to Brisbane after he was made redundant just over a year ago. He was still working there, but wanted to return home to his partner and children. Brown said it was incredibly stressful and depressing not even being able to get a call centre job in New Zealand. He said he knew of other white collar workers who were also struggling to find work and felt like there were no prospects and no way forward. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.