Employers will demand greater productivity from their existing staff this year before they make fresh hires, according to the latest Employment Trends report released by recruitment consultants Hudson. The report summarises employers’ human resources priorities for the year and whether they intend to increase, maintain or decrease staffing levels. Almost a third of all employers (30.8 per cent) said enhancing …

The New Zealand dollar rose against an Australian dollar undermined by a weak employment report on Thursday. The kiwi was at 79.86 Australian cents at 5pm, up from 79.49 cents at 8am and 79.63 cents at 5pm on Wednesday. The rise came after the Australian employment data came out at 1.30pm NZ time. “The important number to look at was …

ANZ has predicted an unemployment rate of about 7 percent for the next six months, as job advertisements experience an only slight rebound. The total number of advertisements in newspapers and online rose 0.4 percent (seasonally adjusted) in December, according to ANZ’s New Zealand Job Advertisement series. Advertising for Wellington jobs hit a three-year low in December, and advertisements in …

Christchurch software developer Jade Corp is splitting off its fast-growing intelligence-gathering software arm, Wynyard Group, as a separate entity, with Wynyard likely to be considering options for new capital to support growth by late this year. how to save money on electric bill Jade’s managing director since 2009, Craig Richardson, will move to work exclusively at Wynyard, as chief executive, …

The hot property market is making consumers more confident in Auckland and they expect house prices to rise more in the next two years. That is according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan NZ consumer confidence survey for January, which otherwise shows a mixed picture nationally. The national headline consumer confidence index firmed to 118.3 in January from 114.7 in December but …

Former newspaper editor Tim Pankhurst will take up the role of chief executive of Seafood New Zealand from April. The former editor of The Press, Waikato Times, The Evening Post and The Dominion Post has often written about his love of fishing and he will now lead the organisation promoting seafood and lobbying on the industry’s behalf. “Tim brings significant …

The steam came out of the NZX 50 Index, although investors continued to favour Fonterra tradable units and Trade Me, owing to index changes taking place next Monday. The NZX50 Index fell 1.72 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4169.23, on volume of 32.65 million shares, valued at $101.8 million. Within the index, 20 shares rose, and 19 fell, leaving 11 …

The New Zealand dollar was little changed on Wednesday after being clobbered overnight in London trading. The kiwi was at 84.06 US cents at 5pm, from 83.93 US cents at 8am and 83.94 cents at 5.25pm on Tuesday. It fell from 84.19 cents to 83.75 cents overnight on Tuesday before recovering. Imre Speizer, senior market strategist at Westpac, said the …

The offer for L&M Energy from its chairman and creditor Geoff Loudon is now unconditional, having been accepted by more than 90 percent of shareholders, allowing compulsory acquisition of remaining shares. Loudon’s New Dawn Energy has acceptance for 90.25 percent of L&M by Jan. 15 and so it will move to compulsorily acquire remaining shares under the Takeovers Code. The …

Property developer Glenn William Cooper, 39, has been remanded on bail for sentencing on March 8 after a Serious Fraud Office investigation into his dealings with a family with whom he built a relationship. Cooper pleaded guilty in Manukau District Court on Wednesday to five charges of dishonestly using a document. The charges resulted from an investigation into five property …