Navigating the New Zealand Tech Job Market in 2025: Key Trends and How to Get Ready

New Zealand’s economy took a major hit in 2024, experiencing the largest GDP contraction among developed countries, according to HSBC. This downturn was largely driven by interest rate hikes aimed at managing post-pandemic inflation. 

The recession has significantly impacted the job market, including the tech industry, which was once considered recession-proof but has also experienced hiring freezes, budget cuts, and layoffs. As we close out the first quarter of 2025, many are left wondering if the economy and job market will recover this year. 

In response, TechWomenNZ reached out to industry experts, recruitment companies and senior professionals, to gather insights on key trends in the tech job market for 2025 and to seek advice on how to best navigate it. Their perspectives are shared below.

Hayley Sharp, Consultant, Absolute IT

1. What can we expect from the New Zealand job market in 2025, particularly in the technology sector? What shifts or trends should tech professionals be preparing for?

New Zealand’s tech skills gap will likely widen in 2025 as demand from employers increases, with factors such as experienced professionals relocating and job seekers hesitant to move due to market uncertainty playing a role too. Fast-growing areas like AI and cybersecurity are creating roles quicker than the available talent can fill them, while new graduates entering the tech workforce alone can’t bridge the gap.

I often see that employers prioritise highly skilled, job-ready candidates, which makes upskilling essential for tech professionals. Those who specialise in high-demand areas and stay adaptable will often have the edge. To keep pace with demand for talent, businesses may need to rethink or revitalise their hiring strategies, from internal career pathways, training programs and upskilling, to how they attract global talent.

2. There has been a lot of talk recently about people relocating, including moving outside of New Zealand, due to the current job market, especially in Wellington. Are you seeing this trend as well? How are employers responding to this, and what advice would you give to those considering leaving or currently facing uncertainty?

We have seen an increase in tech professionals who are opting to relocate in search of better opportunities, or who are more open to considering it as an option. However, I expect the tide will change. New Zealand’s tech sector has shown resilience and adaptability over the past year, and recent conversations I’ve been having with Auckland SMEs, in particular, are filled with positivity and a solid stream of work for the coming years.

Technology remains the foundation of business resilience and efficiency, even during economic uncertainty. For those considering leaving or facing uncertainty, it’s worth assessing local opportunities carefully. The job market is already picking up in early 2025, and New Zealand’s tech sector continues to present strong career potential. If you are job seeking or waiting for that next opportunity, consider what upskilling you could do, attend local networking events, and take the time to get your CV and LinkedIn profile updated – making sure you’re ready for that next opportunity.

3. Which specific job areas or skill sets within the tech industry are seeing the highest demand right now, and how can job seekers position themselves to take advantage of these opportunities?

Finding qualified software development professionals is increasingly difficult, especially in high-demand specialisations like cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and artificial intelligence. Rapid technological advancements and rising security threats drive the growing need for these experts. One clear example of this escalating demand is the 15% rise in cybersecurity breaches worldwide in 2024.

With demand surging in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and AI, job seekers can focus on upskilling in these areas to stay competitive – this will look different for diverse roles across the tech sector, but certifications such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud for cloud roles and CISSP or CEH for cybersecurity can significantly boost employability.

Hands-on experience is key too – things like practical projects, hackathons, and contributions to open-source initiatives can help showcase real-world skills. Staying up to date with emerging trends, networking within industry circles, and demonstrating adaptability will also help candidates stand out to employers.

4. What are some key strategies or tips for navigating the NZ labour market in 2025, especially as the job landscape continues to evolve and workers face uncertainty?

For Employers: Future-proof your workforce by prioritising long-term talent planning, investing in skills development, and honing your hiring strategies. This is especially important in the first half of this year when I expect there will be slightly less competition for available talent. As the year continues, talent and skills availability will become challenging as competition increases. Retention will often be as crucial as attraction – offering clear career pathways, competitive benefits, and upskilling opportunities will help retain top talent.

For Job Seekers: Adaptability is key. Stay competitive by upskilling and focusing on how you can keep growing your capability in the areas where you would like to steer your career, as well as in high-demand areas (like the skills mentioned earlier). Build up your personal brand, expand your network, and remain open to contract or remote roles to maximise opportunities in a changing job market.

5. Is diversity in hiring and the implementation of strategies to avoid unconscious bias still a key consideration in 2025? Should people remain hopeful that New Zealand organisations will continue to address this issue?

Yes – I believe diversity in hiring remains a focus. While not for every role, there is demand for balanced shortlists even in highly competitive fields, and many organisations understand the importance of ongoing training with their hiring managers and are committed to an equitable recruitment process.

Many New Zealand organisations and hiring managers are committed to addressing unconscious bias, with structured hiring processes, education, inclusive job descriptions, and targeted outreach programs. While progress takes time, ongoing initiatives and these requests signal a positive shift toward their goals of a more diverse workforce.

6. Despite the challenges in the job market, what are some positive signs or emerging opportunities that could give hope to those navigating uncertainty, particularly within the tech sector in New Zealand?

Despite challenges, the tech sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience. While hiring slowed it differed from other industries – the demand for tech talent remained strong. Rather than being cancelled, significant projects were often postponed, and companies focused on team consolidation, employee retention, and internal mobility to maintain business as usual.

Although some restructuring took place, in many cases it was less severe than in other sectors and was often offset by solid revenue growth. In my view, the tech industry was in a temporary holding pattern. Sure enough, as 2025 began signs of recovery became apparent, including a noticeable uptick in advertised IT roles, indicating renewed momentum in the market.

Lisa Cooley, Managing Director, BrightSpark Recruitment 

1. What can we expect from the New Zealand job market in 2025, particularly in the technology sector? What shifts or trends should tech professionals be preparing for?

After a fairly slow tech job market during 2024, marked by lots of restructures and redundancies across many businesses, we are starting to see more companies growing their teams again, and more significant projects kicking off. Although this is expected to be slow growth initially, it is a step in the right direction as we see the knock-on effects of interest cuts and inflation coming down.

Trends we are expecting to see in 2025 include a continued rise in the demand for AI and Automation skills, Cyber Security is still a priority for most businesses, even more data focused roles and continued growth in this area, and growth in GreenTech and sustainable IT. We are also seeing more and more businesses moving away from fully remote work, with the majority of businesses we work with now moving to at least 2-3 days in the office.

Some of the challenges we foresee for employers this year will be budget constraints/funding, attracting and retaining top talent and changes to immigration/visas.

2. There has been a lot of talk recently about people relocating, including moving outside of New Zealand, due to the current job market, especially in Wellington. Are you seeing this trend as well? How are employers responding to this, and what advice would you give to those considering leaving or currently facing uncertainty?

Every week I speak to multiple people looking for work in Australia or further afield. The brain drain is alive and well. Over the last couple of years, it’s been harder to get top tech talent into NZ with the visa process taking several months for many roles. I believe that as the market picks up, we will be very close to a real shortage of talent again and are at risk of seeing the same issues we did during late 2020-2022, when there were far more roles than people available for them. 

My advice to people looking is to consider if the grass is truly greener elsewhere.  Is the cost of living difference worth the move? Will you have the support network around you that you have here? Often countries that pay higher salaries do not have the same work/life balance that we enjoy, and at what price is losing that worth it? Will you receive the same care if you become sick etc?

Basically, really do your research before making the leap. That said, people have to work, so I totally get why so many people are making the move.

3. Which specific job areas or skill sets within the tech industry are seeing the highest demand right now, and how can job seekers position themselves to take advantage of these opportunities?

AI, Cyber Security, Data, and Cloud related roles are all in demand. We are also seeing an increase again in software development opportunities. In addition, with lots of large projects starting to kick off again we are seeing an increase in project services related roles, especially BAs.

In terms of people positioning themselves to take advantage of this, they should engage in continuous learning, networking (make the most of living in such a small country) and developing their soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, which are highly valued alongside technical expertise.

Additionally, as there are generally a lot of applications still for many roles, make sure you have a standout CV and cover letter, tailor it for every opportunity you apply for. A good recruiter should be able to help you with this.

4. What are some key strategies or tips for navigating the NZ labour market in 2025, especially as the job landscape continues to evolve and workers face uncertainty?

I definitely recommend continuously upskilling and learning. This could be anything from formal courses to micro-credentials and anything in-between. Keep abreast of the latest trends in technology and embrace AI and automation.

Networking is key here in NZ, and so many people find roles through people they meet or being in the right place at the right time. There are so many awesome tech Meetups and events online and in person. 

Also, connect with reputable and well connected specialist recruitment companies who will get to know you and what you are looking for, and put you in front of the right companies and opportunities.

5. Is diversity in hiring and the implementation of strategies to avoid unconscious bias still a key consideration in 2025? Should people remain hopeful that New Zealand organisations will continue to address this issue?

Despite what we are seeing in some parts of the world – America, we’re looking at you – diversity in hiring and the implementation of strategies to mitigate unconscious bias remain important considerations for many organisations here. Unfortunately, there are still too many who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk, so there is plenty of room for education and improvement in this space.

There are some great organisations really leading the way in this, and I believe we have plenty of reason to remain optimistic.

6. Despite the challenges in the job market, what are some positive signs or emerging opportunities that could give hope to those navigating uncertainty, particularly within the tech sector in New Zealand?

Despite a tough couple of years, I believe the tech job market is slowly starting to move in the right direction. We have seen large programmes of work that have been delayed starting to kick off in many enterprises and a slow down in redundancies. We have also seen an increase in VC funding for start-ups with some high profile oversubscribed funding rounds, and Australian based VC firms regularly heading to New Zealand to look for companies to invest in.

We’re seeing growth in the emerging tech sector, the launch of the Invest New Zealand initiative by the government, lower interest rates and inflation, and increased business confidence. It may be slow, but I believe we are heading in the right direction in 2025.

Daniel Heath, Associate Director – Technology, INSIDE Recruitment

1. What can we expect from the New Zealand job market in 2025, particularly in the technology sector? What shifts or trends should tech professionals be preparing for?

I’m seeing continued demand for architects, data professionals, and more cloud engineers and cloud resources. AI is becoming a key focus for most businesses and a regular talking point, but I’m not seeing a significant rise in dedicated AI roles just yet. There’s the new AI DIA framework which has been created, and more people are starting to incorporate it into their work, but it hasn’t fundamentally changed the types of roles we’re seeing so far. There are a lot of existing AI products organisations can simply turn on reasonably quickly for example MS CoPilot. Employees will need training and guidance so there could be a rise of roles in this area. Also this will mean there is a focus on data quality at the source as this impacts the reliability and performance of AI models

In terms of technology roles, both this year and most of 2024, the most common roles have been in data, security, architecture, and cloud. I also expect to see growing demand for developers. With the borders closed during COVID, it was harder to attract offshore talent, and we didn’t see the usual influx of experienced developers. Now that the borders have reopened, we’re starting to see more movement in the development space again.

2. There has been a lot of talk recently about people relocating, including moving outside of New Zealand, due to the current job market, especially in Wellington. Are you seeing this trend as well? How are employers responding to this, and what advice would you give to those considering leaving or currently facing uncertainty?

To be honest, I’ve only seen or heard of a handful of people I’ve worked with actually moving overseas. I’ve spoken to quite a few people who have come home as well. The ones I have seen move overseas tend to be in their twenties, whereas the people who are settled here in Wellington usually have young families, homes, and are more established.

I do hear from people who have gone overseas that the work-life balance we enjoy here in Wellington — with the short commutes, beaches, and easy access to work — is a lot better than what they experience abroad. A few people I know have moved to Australia, and they’ve found the hours longer and the commutes tougher. It seems the grass isn’t always greener, and they’re still facing high living costs like rates, power, and food.

Personally, having spent time overseas myself, I really love Wellington and New Zealand. I think we’ve got something pretty special here, and I reckon a lot of people are starting to realise that too.

In terms of how employees are responding to all this, I haven’t heard much directly. But I do know some people have been able to work fully remote — either moving overseas or shifting to a different part of New Zealand — and keeping their job because they have a strong reputation within the company. So remote work is still an option in some cases, but it seems to be something you earn after proving yourself in the business.

3. Which specific job areas or skill sets within the tech industry are seeing the highest demand right now, and how can job seekers position themselves to take advantage of these opportunities?

Like I mentioned earlier, the key skill sets are mostly in the cloud engineering space, and also roles across DevOps, solution architecture, data, and data science. I’m seeing a lot of people doing online courses to upskill in these areas, alongside training offered through their employers.

There are also plenty of groups and meetups people can attend, which is great for networking, but also for expanding your knowledge and experience. These events help you think outside the box and stay up to date on tech trends. On top of that, there’s a huge range of online tools and resources available now, so there are plenty of ways for people to develop these skills.

I’ve spoken to candidates who are keen to switch careers or move into a different technical area, but I think that’s pretty tough to do just by applying for jobs online, or going through a recruiter. That’s because we’re usually asked by clients to find candidates with very specific skill sets.

It’s often much easier to shift into a new area or different technology area within your current company. Having that conversation with your manager first and exploring internal opportunities is definitely the best place to start.

4. What are some key strategies or tips for navigating the NZ labour market in 2025, especially as the job landscape continues to evolve and workers face uncertainty?

Some of the key strategies and advice I’ve been giving people recently is to really make the most of their network. I still talk to a lot of people who don’t reach out to their first connections on LinkedIn or send direct messages to people they know. This is especially true for those based outside their local CBD whether that is in Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch. Get into the city and meet people face to face. Walk the main streets.

SEEK still has its place, but lots of roles don’t make it up there, you really need to be using your network. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and relevant, but also actively engage with the platform. There are algorithms running behind the scenes that influence how visible you are in searches, and things like posting, commenting, and liking content all help you appear higher up the results in recruiters searches. You want to appear on the first few pages of a search, not at the end. You want to be found and get that call or opportunity to find you sometimes. Think of your LinkedIn profile as your billboard.

It’s also still really important to stay connected to your local community. You’ll often hear about opportunities through community networks — whether that’s sports clubs, school groups, or other interest groups. Being plugged in and talking to people, especially in a small place like Wellington where there’s often only two degrees of separation, is invaluable.

If you can, try to get into the CBDs regularly to catch up with recruiters you know well, or reconnect face to face with old colleagues and contacts over a coffee. There’s a huge amount of intel and insight you can pick up from those conversations.

You might need to be open to considering roles you haven’t thought about in the past, such as shorter fixed-term positions or, if you’ve been a permanent employee, looking into contract roles — or vice versa. I think it’s important to be flexible on your requirements.

5. Is diversity in hiring and the implementation of strategies to avoid unconscious bias still a key consideration in 2025? Should people remain hopeful that New Zealand organisations will continue to address this issue?

To be honest, I don’t hear a lot about this at the moment. I still think there’s a really strong pool of talented women in tech, and I’m not seeing the same concerning trends we used to see in the past around women in technology roles.

In terms of strategies, I’ve seen recently, the flexibility to work from home or adjust hours around school drop-offs and pick-ups has definitely made a big difference. I also know some organisations are reviewing the way they word their job ads externally to help attract more women into specific roles, which is a positive step.

That said, there are still certain areas within tech where there are fewer women, but overall, I see a lot of very capable women in the industry. There are groups springing up that are really helping like TechWomen, Women in Data Science, and Women of Pōneke. These kinds of networks provide fantastic support.

Another strategy I’ve seen some organisations adopt is introducing set salaries for specific roles. That means regardless of whether you’re senior or junior, female or male, everyone is paid the same for the same role, which I think is really important.

6. Despite the challenges in the job market, what are some positive signs or emerging opportunities that could give hope to those navigating uncertainty, particularly within the tech sector in New Zealand?

From my conversations recently, I get the sense that people feel we’ve hit the near the bottom of the curve, and it’s starting to creep up again. Across INSIDE Recruitment we’re seeing a noticeable increase in contract opportunities over the last three months, likely due to the number of permanent redundancies in the public sector. There also seems to be more fixed term contracts on offer.

While I remain optimistic, I also need to be realistic — the market is still very tough. There’s less roles and more very strong candidates. It will be very competitive. You will think you’ve aced an interview to hear that they selected someone else. However, there are still good pockets of work out there; you just need to stay really tuned in to find them. I’m hopeful that once the government finalises its priorities later this year, tech roles and large digital transformation will be near the top of their agenda.

I’ve also been talking to senior leaders in tech who are feeling very upbeat and positive about 2025, which gives me hope that things are shifting in the right direction. It’s great to hear so many influential people working to turn the negative narrative around, especially here in Wellington.