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ANZ Mid-Year Pulse Check 2026
Published date: 20 July 2026
Hiring conditions continue to evolve across Australia and New Zealand, but the picture isn't the same for every organisation. The Robert Walters Mid-Year Pulse Check brings together exclusive survey insights on business confidence, hiring intentions, headcount trends, and remuneration to help you benchmark your workforce strategy against businesses in your sector.
The findings reveal a labour market that remains active, but increasingly selective. On average, 52% of businesses across Australia and New Zealand are actively hiring or plan to hire within the next six months, while around 68% expect to increase salaries this year.
Whether you're hiring now, reviewing salaries, or assessing future workforce needs, this guide provides practical market insights to support more informed decision-making.
What is the Mid-Year Pulse Check?
The Mid-Year Pulse Check is Robert Walters' latest survey of employers across Australia and New Zealand, exploring how organisations are responding to today's labour market. The guide examines business confidence, workforce planning, hiring intentions, headcount changes, and salary expectations across a range of industries, giving business leaders a clearer understanding of how the market is evolving.
The report breaks down the findings by sector, allowing organisations to compare their own hiring and retention strategies with those of employers facing similar market conditions.
What's inside the guide?
Drawing on exclusive employer survey data, the guide explores the latest workforce trends across Australia and New Zealand, including:
- Business confidence across key industries
- Hiring intentions by sector
- Headcount changes across the market
- How organisations are responding to rising operating costs
- Salary increase and bonus expectations
- A practical decision-making framework for hiring managers and business leaders
Whether you're recruiting, reviewing remuneration or planning future workforce initiatives, these insights can help provide valuable context for your organisation.
Why benchmarking matters
Labour market conditions can vary significantly between sectors. While some organisations continue to invest in talent, others are taking a more measured approach to hiring, remuneration and workforce growth.
In New Zealand, hiring intentions are strongest in Human Resources (76%), followed by Technology and Property & Procurement (both 67%). In Australia, 71% of Property & Procurement employers and 68% of Human Resources employers are actively hiring or planning to hire within the next six months. These differences reinforce why sector-specific benchmarks provide more meaningful context than national averages alone.
Understanding where your organisation sits relative to others in your industry can help you assess hiring priorities, identify emerging talent challenges and make more confident workforce decisions.
How employers are responding to today's market
The latest survey findings show that employers continue to balance growth with caution. Rather than reducing employee rewards, businesses are more likely to adjust hiring activity first. On average, 47% of employers across Australia and New Zealand have delayed hiring decisions, while 53% are reducing discretionary spending in response to rising operating costs.
The guide explores how these responses vary across sectors, where hiring demand remains strongest, and how salary and bonus expectations are evolving across Australia and New Zealand. Together, these insights provide a clearer picture of today's employment market, helping hiring managers and business leaders benchmark their workforce strategy against current market conditions.
Practical insights for hiring and retention
Today's hiring decisions require more than a view of your own organisation. Understanding how businesses in your sector approach hiring, pay, and workforce planning provides valuable context when reviewing your own strategy.
The Mid-Year Pulse Check combines employer sentiment with sector-specific insights to help you:
- Benchmark your hiring strategy against your market
- Understand current recruitment and remuneration trends
- Identify sectors experiencing stronger hiring demand
- Support workforce planning and talent retention decisions
- Make more informed hiring decisions with greater market context
Download your complimentary copy by completing the form.
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FAQs
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Who is this guide for?
This guide is designed for hiring managers, HR leaders, business leaders, and decision-makers responsible for recruitment, workforce planning, remuneration and talent retention across Australia and New Zealand. -
What are the biggest hiring trends in Australia and New Zealand?
Employers across Australia and New Zealand continue to hire, but recruitment has become more selective. While around 52% of employers are actively hiring or planning to hire within the next six months, demand varies considerably by sector. The Mid-Year Pulse Check explores where hiring remains strongest and provides sector-specific benchmarks to help organisations compare their hiring strategy with the wider market. -
How are employers responding to rising operating costs?
The survey found that employers are more likely to delay hiring decisions and reduce discretionary spending before making changes to employee rewards. This suggests many organisations are managing cost pressures by slowing hiring activity rather than reducing salaries or bonuses. The guide explores how these responses differ across sectors and what they mean for workforce planning. -
Why is sector benchmarking important?
National hiring trends only tell part of the story. Labour market conditions can differ significantly between industries, making sector-specific insights more valuable when reviewing recruitment, headcount, or remuneration strategies. Benchmarking against your sector provides more relevant context for workforce decisions. -
How can hiring managers use the findings in this guide?
The guide provides practical benchmarks across business confidence, hiring intentions, headcount trends and remuneration, helping organisations compare their workforce strategy with others in their sector and make more informed hiring and retention decisions.
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