While Contact Energy celebrates a 44% profit jump and economists cheer signs of movement in the housing market, there's a quieter story playing out in New Zealand's back offices: companies are spending dramatically more on administrative and support services than they did before COVID. $75.4 million in 2024, up from $52 million in 2019. That's a 45% increase.

Here's the tension: that sounds like growth. It sounds like investment. But once you account for inflation — which has run about 20-25% since 2019 — the picture shifts. In real terms, businesses are spending maybe 15-20% more on admin and support than pre-pandemic. Not nothing, but nowhere near the 45% headline figure suggests.

So where's all that extra money going? Not into your pocket, if you work in the sector. Admin and support services cover everything from office administrators to call centre workers to building services staff — the people who keep businesses running but rarely make the headlines. And while the nominal spending has climbed steadily since 2020, those workers are dealing with the same inflated grocery bills and power costs as everyone else.

The trajectory tells the story: $55.6 million in 2020, then $58.6 million in 2021, $68.3 million in 2022, $71.8 million in 2023, and now $75.4 million. (Source: Stats NZ (LEED), earnings-by-industry) That's five years of consistent growth in spending. But it's growth that gets eaten by inflation before it reaches workers' bank accounts.

This matters because administrative and support services are often where businesses cut first and invest last. When Contact Energy's profit soars or property owners finally start moving houses around, those gains don't trickle down to the person answering phones or managing facilities. The sector that keeps the lights on — literally, in many cases — is the one that gets nominal increases that feel like real-terms stagnation.

And here's what the numbers don't show: how stretched those dollars have become. A business spending 45% more on admin support today isn't necessarily getting 45% more service, or hiring 45% more staff, or paying 45% better wages. They're mostly just keeping pace with an economy where everything costs more — from software subscriptions to cleaning supplies to the wages needed to retain staff in a tight labour market.

The contrast is stark. Energy companies post record profits. Property values show signs of life. And the workers who process the invoices, manage the bookings, and coordinate the services? They're seeing their paycheques grow in name only, while the real purchasing power barely budges. That's not a mixed picture. That's a pattern.