August Employment Report - SEEK job ads up 2.3% month on month

Since the beginning of March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has had an extreme impact on the job market. For the foreseeable future, the SEEK Employment Report will feature relevant month-on-month and year-on-year job ad data (refer to SEEK Employment data for further detail). 

The August 2020 report focuses on month-on-month data, which offers a clearer picture as to how the job market is evolving and recovering from the pandemic.  

 STATE OF THE NATION: JOB ADS

The latest SEEK employment data shows a 2.3% month-on-month growth in jobs advertised. 

The top three states contributing to the increase in monthly job ads are Queensland, up 7.4%, New South Wales, up 6.3%, and Western Australia, up 5.2% month-on-month in July 2020. 

STATE OF VICTORIA 

Across July, Victoria saw job ads decline by -12.8% month-on-month as the state began stricter lockdown regulations. 

Key consumer services industries contributed to this overall decline, with the Hospitality and Tourism (-49%) and Retail and Consumer Products (-18%) sectors being most impacted by the stricter lockdown regulations.  

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ comments:

“While we continue to see a decline in Victorian job ads, the current figures are not as severe as the declines we experienced in March and April. In July, small and medium enterprises did everything they could to innovate and find new ways to operate, however we expect next month’s job ad volumes to tell a different story after Melbourne entered Stage Four restrictions in the first week of August.” 

STATE OF THE STATES

With the exception of Victoria and the Northern Territory, all states and territories saw a rebound in job ads across the month, but at a much slower rate than the previous month. In particular, Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia saw positive month-on-month job ad volume growth in July. 

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ comments: 

“Queensland contributed positively to national job ad growth, with month-on-month job ad volumes up by 7.4%. Key industries contributing to this growth included Hospitality and Tourism, which was up by 31% month-on-month in July, and Education and Training, up 20% month-on-month in July. 

“New South Wales job ad volumes grew by 6.3% month-on-month in July, with sectors including Sales (up 17%), Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (up 16%) and Healthcare & Medical (up 16%) contributing to overall job ad growth for the state. 

“Western Australia also performed well in July, with job ad volumes up 5.2% month-on-month. The Construction, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics and Sales sectors all made strong contributions to the state’s growth, up 21%, 20% and 16% respectively in July.”

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS

Seasonally, the employment market was slightly more subdued in July as businesses’ operating budgets were finalised for the new financial year. However, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics, Information, Communication & Technology and Construction, which are three of the larger industry sectors, showed positive month-on-month job ad growth and contributed to the overall national job ad growth figure of 2.3%. 

• Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics was up by 9% month-on-month, with roles in assembly and process work, warehousing, storage and distribution, road transport, machine operators and purchasing, procurement and inventory being in demand throughout July. 
• Information, Communication & Technology was up by 7% month-on-month in July, with multiple roles in this sector in demand. Top jobs included architects, security, software engineers, network and system administrators, developers and programmers and help desk and IT support. 
• Construction was up by 8% month-on-month, with plant and machinery operators, estimators, forepersons and supervisors, and project management roles in demand. 

Figure 1: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (July 2020 vs June 2020)

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (July 2020 vs June 2020)

Download SEEK employment data here