In New Zealand - most layoffs I’ve heard about have been US companies trimming offshore staff. At least one high profile local startup has laid people off though.
Speaking as a hiring manager it’s definitely been easier to find people since around mid 2022
Apart from one high profile NZ startup (possibly the same one) most companies seem to be okay. Lots of companies still hiring although not as aggressively as a year ago.
I know someone who lost their job at gitlab and various others working remote for US companies are worried. Most NZ It jobs are at companies serving local users or smallish NZ companies serving global markets. Relatively few work for a big global company that could easily move their job elsewhere.
It tends to release a lot of insurance money into the economy and a lot of work restoring things. Not good for inflation. A bunch of the mid/large (for NZ) tech sector companies tend to be a bit divorced from the NZ economy as many target a global audience, biggest factors tend to be the exchange rate/cost of living.
Boom times for anyone in road building and construction, probably.
It's been described as a billion dollar weather event on par with the Christchurch earthquake 10+ years ago.
Speaking as a hiring manager it’s definitely been easier to find people since around mid 2022