New jobs data concerning for future workforce

By Engineering New Zealand 6 Oct 2026

New Infometrics data has provided valuable and concerning insight into the tough situation facing young engineers and graduates trying to enter the workforce.

It shows that the engineering jobs market changed dramatically last year. Total job openings fell by more than 70%, and within that, new job openings – which are numerically equivalent to employment growth - plummeted by more than 4,200 jobs.

This is particularly relevant to students and recent graduates because a shrinking workforce is likely to mean fewer opportunities for people trying to enter the profession in the first place.

Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau Chief Executive Richard Templer says the new data reflects and reinforces some of anecdotal evidence being shared and is a concerning picture.

“There’s no question this should be ringing alarm bells for our politicians, as well as the engineering and wider infrastructure and construction sectors. While this new data doesn’t give us the complete picture, it certainly indicates why new grads and students are finding it difficult in this market, because the overall workforce is contracting.

“The real risk here isn't just today's students struggling to find experience, but ensuring we have the engineering workforce to meet the needs of tomorrow. We know there is a mountain of infrastructure work and maintenance required in the coming years, and we simply can't afford to train engineers and then lose them overseas before they even get started in their careers.”

“There’s no silver bullet, but it again underscores how critical it is that we as a country can establish a funded pipeline of future projects, and that we have the engineering talent coming through that can deliver on those projects and engineer the infrastructure solutions of tomorrow.

Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau will continue to work with universities and employers to get a full understanding of the problem and seek to identify opportunities to further support students and recent graduates entering the profession.

We will also be raising this issue more broadly with government and industry as more evidence and data come to light.

Data

The below data is sourced from Infometrics’ Sector Monitor, a tool that draws together a variety of data sets before applying its own modelling and forecasts to come up with estimates.

Total job openings – Sharp decline

This is a measure of the total number of new workers required in a sector due to job creation and replacement demand. It shows a sharp decline since 2024 and is at its lowest point since 2010.

2024: 5,893 job openings
2025: 1,585 job openings
2026: 1,640 job openings

New Jobs – Severe decline

New job openings are created when businesses expand their workforce because they are positive about their economic outlook. New job openings may turn negative when businesses contract and have a negative perspective of their economic outlook. New job openings are numerically equivalent to employment growth.

This data is particularly relevant to graduate employment and is at its lowest point in our data set, going back 26 years.

2024: 3,903 new job openings
2025: -390 new job openings
2026: -322 new job openings

(Note: a negative number of new job openings effectively means no new jobs have been created, and that the overall workforce has shrunk)

Replacement job openings – Steady

Replacement job openings provide an estimate of the number of job openings in the sector that arise from individuals leaving an occupation (due to factors including retirement, emigration, and death) net of jobs taken by individuals entering an occupation (due to returning to the workforce from parental leave, entering the labour market after study, immigration etc).

This data is key for showing the impact on experienced engineers in the sector, which has remained relatively steady since 2024.