NZ Tech Hiring Trends: Perm vs Contract, Talent Availability

NZ Tech Hiring – July 2025 A quick pulse check for anyone recruiting in the current climate. 📉 Perm hiring remains slow across a lot of the tech space — particularly mid-senior delivery, engineering and leadership roles. Most businesses are being cautious, prioritising BAU over transformation unless it's tied to revenue, risk or compliance. 🛠️ Contracting is ticking along, especially in areas like cloud, cyber, data, and large regulatory programmes. We're seeing demand for flexible resources, often scoped to shorter terms. 📊 The good news? There’s solid talent on the market. Some high-calibre PMs, developers, BAs and architects are open to work following restructures and programme wrap-ups. These aren’t the “active candidates” from job boards — these are proven operators who are open to the right opportunity. 🎯 But that’s the catch: they’re being selective. People are looking for clarity — hybrid expectations, meaningful work, and engaged leadership. The days of vague briefs and unclear pipelines won’t cut it. 🔍 From a recruiter’s view, the market is: Candidate-rich but opportunity-lean Fast-moving in contracting Quietly competitive for top-tier talent If you're hiring and not seeing results, it may be time to reassess how the role is positioned, or how you're approaching the market. Always happy to talk through what we're seeing firsthand. #techrecruitment #nztech #contractingnz #digitalhiring #talentmarket #techjobsnz #marketinsights