There is a glimmer of good news for job hunters with more people in work after the lockdown.
The number of filled jobs were up 0.8 per cent in May from a 1.6 per cent drop in April.
However, there are 23,704 fewer people in work than in February, with workers aged 15 - 24, and women struggling to get work.
“Those younger people are at entry level or unskilled roles, and they are possibly roles organisations are finding it easier to do without if they are in a position if they don't have the levels of work they have pre-Covid,” Hays recruitment managing director Adam Shapley told 1 NEWS.
Kiwis are also earning less, with combined incomes $1.2 billion lower than in March.
The trend towards casual work is one of the reasons we're seeing smaller pay packets.
“You're seeing people working fewer hours and getting paid less and we're also seeing some firms which have implemented pay cuts,” Brad Olsen from Infometrics said.
The wage subsidy is also contributing to reduced incomes, because employees can only get a maximum of $585 per week.
It's also masking the extent of the problem - keeping people in work and helping businesses survive - but come September, when it runs out, the full picture of the hit to jobs will be revealed.
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