Is AI really taking our jobs? What’s happening in the Christchurch Tech job market?
I’ve been following LinkedIn Talent Connect APAC, and some of the data shared about AI, jobs and the global labour market was pretty eye-opening.
The headline figure was that global hiring is down 11% year-on-year.
But the story behind that number is more complicated than simply saying jobs are disappearing.
People are staying in their roles longer, changing jobs less often and being more cautious about making a move. The job market hasn’t stopped, but it has certainly slowed down.
New AI jobs are emerging
At the same time, we’re seeing entirely new jobs enter the market.
Roles such as:
Forensic AI Analyst
Forward Deployed Engineer
AI Safety Operator
These types of AI roles have grown by 190% over the past year.
A few years ago, most people would never have heard of these jobs. Now businesses are actively recruiting for them.
But I think the bigger picture is what’s happening to the jobs we already have.
Existing jobs are changing
The skills employers need are changing at twice the rate of the overall labour market.
That doesn’t necessarily mean your job is about to disappear. But it probably does mean your job will look different in the next few years.
AI tools are already changing how people work across recruitment, software development, marketing, finance, customer support and many other professions.
There were also some big productivity numbers shared.
Around a third of large global companies have reduced headcount, while revenue per employee has increased by 22%.
For AI-native start-ups, revenue per employee has increased by an incredible 66%.
It would be easy to look at those numbers and conclude that AI is simply replacing people.
I don’t think it’s that straightforward.
Economic conditions, wars, company restructuring, investment in technology and people moving jobs less frequently are all contributing to what we’re seeing.
What’s happening in New Zealand?
It’s also important to remember that these are global figures. Here in New Zealand, the picture is a little more encouraging. MBIE data shows that online job advertising increased by 7% in the year to June 2026.
It has certainly been a ‘mixed employment market’, particularly across parts of the technology sector. I’d put it as we’re seeing a lot of contract work for technical specialists and skill short roles and we’re lucky to have some great people in Otautahi, Christchurch.
We’ve also had some ‘hard to fill’ technical roles in automation, web, AI and software development which have taken months to appoint (some quicker ;-) so specialist skills are still in demand although the media would have you believe otherwise.
In Otautahi, Christchurch we're seeing solid hiring activity and movement in the market as the Canterbury region continues to punch above it's weight in the NZ economy. With the new stadium, affordable housing prices and awesome work / life balance it continues to attract great talent. We're even about to be featured in 'The Amazing Race' click here.
So, what should we do?
My main takeaway from LinkedIn Talent Connect APAC was pretty simple.
AI is changing jobs, skills and businesses. But most of us don’t need to suddenly become AI experts. We do need to understand how AI is changing our roles & profession.
We need to keep learning, stay curious and become comfortable using new tools that our discipline demands used in a pragmatic way - does it make the boat go faster? Most importantly, we need to combine AI with the experience, judgement, relationships and human skills we already have.
The future of work probably isn’t going to be humans versus AI.
It’s more likely to be people who understand how to use AI intelligently working alongside those who bring the human qualities technology can’t easily replace - the soft skills.
And that’s something to feel pretty positive about 😍
I’m Paul, lover of coffee, dogs, biking, surfing & skiing. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment and People & Culture Consultancy based in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.
We specialise in recruiting jobs around the product development lifecycle in software, hardware & engineering! We have also made successful appointments within AI, hardware & firmware engineering, mechanical engineering, IoT, electrical & electronics engineering, web & digital marketing and senior leadership roles.