Highly-skilled vacancies in NZ 'increasing'

Vacancies for highly-skilled employees in New Zealand increased during July, according to new figures.

The country had 6,360 total advertised job vacancies during the month, which was approximately the same number recorded in July 2006, data from its Department of Labour reveals.

However, opportunities for highly-skilled workers rose by 11 per cent to 1,372, which may be good news for those seeking finance jobs in New Zealand.

Regionally, the areas of Nelson/Tasman and Canterbury showed the steepest increases, at 48 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, followed by Gisborne and the West Coast.

Last month, the department released its statistics regarding how many skilled migrants had been granted work visas - applicants from the UK made up 21 per cent of those who had been given visas.

The news follows a report from the Australian government which revealed that New Zealand's neighbouring country is in need of skilled migrants.

Nearly 150,000 foreigners were granted work visas for Australia in 2006.