Businesses are complaining an expanding public service is adding to their recruitment woes.
One example is the Ministry for the Environment, which is two thirds bigger than it was two years ago and now has more than 600 staff.
That's mainly down to the huge work programme overhauling the Resource Management Act.
The Planning Institute's chief executive David Curtis told reporter Phil Pennington that just a few weeks ago the Ministry was looking to hire more than 60 planners - recruiting from an already limited workforce.
