'This likely comes as more Kiwis feel the rising cost of living their back pockets'
Money has taken over work-life balance as the top priority for New Zealand employees amid a cost-of-living crisis, according to reports.
A Trade Me Jobs survey among 2,300 New Zealanders found that 71% of respondents ranked pay as the most important factor for their new job, according to Stuff.
And 63% said they are willing to relocate just to get a pay increase.
"Almost a quarter are even willing to go overseas if that will bring in more money," said Trade Me Jobs sales director Matt Tolich as quoted by Stuff.
Tolich said the findings are a shift from the previous year when work-life balance was the top priority for New Zealand employees.
"This likely comes as more Kiwis feel the rising cost of living their back pockets," Tolich said.
The findings also came as New Zealand employees express strong confidence in landing a new job.
According to the survey, 87% of the respondents think that finding a job isn't difficult.
New Zealand's inflation rate is at 7.2% in the December 2022 quarter, according to the latest data from Stats NZ.
The government recently raised the minimum wage to $22.70 per hour this month, a $1.50 increase from the previous standard, in a bid to catch up with the country's inflation rate.
According to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, the minimum wage is expected to help "thousands of New Zealanders" who are struggling with the rising costs of living.
Growing financial concerns
The results of Trade Me Jobs' survey reflect the findings of an earlier survey from ELMO Software, which exposed employees' financial concerns.
Findings from ELMO's Employee Sentiment Index Q4 2022 revealed 53% are planning to ask their employers for a pay rise or promotion amid fears of a recession or an interest rate hike.
However, unlike the Trade Me Jobs survey, the ELMO report found that career plans have been put on hold due to recession and interest rate hike fears.
The survey revealed that such fears are making 73% of respondents want to stay with their current employer this year.
Danny Lessem, co-founder and CEO of ELMO Software, previously urged employers to shift their attention on better managing existing talent over hiring more.
Salary benchmarking should also remain up to date to ensure that internal talent aren't overlooked when hiring for toles, according to Lessem.
