“There are now 9931 fewer filled jobs in Wellington City, which is a very significant fall because the long-run trend going back to 2015 had been for slow but quite consistent growth in the number of filled jobs,” he said. Firstly, wages are growing at a much slower rate right now, probably less than inflation for many people in Wellington. “There’s been no plan to deliver economic growth to Wellington to help support new jobs, or to help tackle the downstream effects of those job losses,” he said. Willis said the Government wanted “Wellington to succeed” and talked up “significant investments in the capital”. “They include expanding Wellington Hospital and investing in the film sector, major local roading projects and building work on local schools.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 01, 2026 17:31 UTC