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People are having to take jobs in different towns from where they live in order to find work as unemployment rises.
The unemployment rate has risen to a near-five year high of 5.2 percent as businesses either sack staff or stop hiring, with 156,000 people out of work.
It comes as Auckland's Business Chamber boss Simon Bridges is calling on the government to do more to stimulate the economy in the supercity and the country.
As well, it's been revealed the unemployment rate for Pacific people is 12.1 percent, more than double the national average, and the Salvation Army says the situation may get worse.
Hawke's Bay woman Shannon Kendall had to take a job two hours away from where she lived to find employment.
Kendall is a project manager in the construction industry.
She said after being made redundant in 2024 she spent a year looking for work before finding a job in Palmerston North.
"I was applying for jobs in Auckland, I was applying for jobs in Australia and I was ready to just do whatever I had to do and commute big time to have employment and to stay in my industry."
Kendall said it had been a tough 12 months and she was thankful for the job.
But despite finding a job in another town, Kendall is commuting rather than relocating, with a son still enrolled in school in Hawke's Bay.
Rotorua-based writer-editor Matt Walker meanwhile lost his job in the public service cuts early last year.
Walker found himself sending out more than 200 job applications over the next 15 months, with no success.
"I kept applying for public service roles in Rotorua and got a short-term contract at one point but I continued to look for a permanent job," he said.
Walker, who has 25 years of professional experience, said the job market had become fiercely competitive.
In one application process, he was up against 220 other candidates.
"It's tough out there with hundreds of people going for the same role," Walker said.
Now, he finally has a job in the NGO sector, but it requires him to travel from Rotorua to Christchurch.
Walker said his current workplace has been incredibly supportive, providing him with all the resources he needed to succeed.
"I'm not looking for a job change now," he said.
Christchurch man James Brown earlier told RNZ he had applied for more than 100 jobs without luck.
The insurance adjustor moved to Brisbane after he was made redundant just over a year ago.
He was still working there, but needed to return home to his partner and children.
"I have an extensive CV, it shouldn't be this difficult to find a job," he said.
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.
CEO and founder of Integrity recruitment Ingrid Osborne told Afternoons recruitment has taken a real hit over the last five years.
"Unfortunately, so many people have been affected and it's turmoil," Osborne said. "It's really bad and what I'm finding as well is people aren't being treated like human beings anymore. It's like 'here's another jobseeker' and it's just, in my opinion, unacceptable and something needs to be done."
She said there are lots of companies using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the recruitment phase, which can scan CVs for key words and phrases.
"What's happening is you're putting together what you think is a great CV and cover letter, and it's not even getting to a person because AI saying 'no, you haven't got the right word or whatever'."
Osborne advises job seekers to streamline what they apply for and only go for jobs that they have experience in. She also said people should check social media for anything that may put off recruiters, and attend networking events.
"Try and find that side door where you could get your CV in front of someone," she said.
Jobless numbers worse for Pasifika
Ana Ika, social policy analyst at the Salvation Army, told Pacific Waves that the higher unemployment rate for Pacific reflected difficulties around finding work and education opportunities in the current climate.
"Our labour force participation rate actually hasn't changed that much, but our unemployment has increased," she said.
That indicated a lot of young people had entered the labour force and were not securing jobs or training and education opportunities, she said.
"We would think…that a lot of that unemployment for Pacific is predominantly our young people," Ika said.
Intern Kajal Nair contributed to this story.
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