SEEK Employment Report - Job ad volumes fall back slightly after record highs

STATE OF THE NATION: JOB AB VOLUMES FALL BACK SLIGHTLY AFTER RECORD HIGHS

The latest SEEK Employment Report shows job ad levels remain high with 27.2% more jobs on seek.com.au last month compared to May 2019. 

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ, comments: “Following two consecutive months of record high new job ad volumes, we are still seeing extraordinarily high job ad numbers, with only a slight month-on-month decline of 0.6%. This is the first month-on-month drop since April 2020 and is to be expected after unprecedented growth.”

Current job application levels per ad are at the lowest they have been on seek.com.au since 2012. This is a broad problem across industries and location, with a variety of underlying drivers impacting application numbers.

Kendra Banks continues: “Consistent with our recent reporting, the number of applications per job ad in May continued to decline – falling 8.7%. This is evident in all states and territories and across most industries, with 25 of the 28 industries we report on showing a decrease.  

“Candidate activity on seek.com.au shows us applicants continue to monitor job opportunities in very high numbers, but there is a reluctance to apply. There are several factors behind this decline.

“We can see that with more jobs available, there is a knock-on effect to the number of applications per job ad posted with candidates both having more choice and being more selective. In addition, the reduced labour supply is impacting on the ability to fill roles, which includes the decrease in workers from overseas. There is also a hesitancy for candidates to commit to applying for new roles after such a turbulent 12 months or so, with jobseekers valuing job security in light of COVID-19.”

Figure 1: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change (m/m) - January 2020 to May 2021

STATE OF THE STATES: QUEENSLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND THE ACT HAD RECORD MONTHS

Last month we reported that all states and territories had a record high in April, and we are now seeing a drop off in month-on-month numbers across multiple locations. 

Kendra Banks continues: “Queensland, South Australia and the ACT continued to show month-on-month increases in job ad volume. New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmanian and the Northern Territory have each had small declines but importantly still have double digit growth compared to two years ago.”

Table 1: National, state and territory job ad growth/decline comparing May 2021 to: i) April 2021 (m/m); ii) May 2020 (y/y) and; iii) May 2019.

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (May 2021 vs April 2021)

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS: HR & RECRUITMENT LEADING M/M GROWTH  

The HR & Recruitment industry leads the biggest contribution to m/m growth in new job ad figures. 

Kendra Banks continues: “When recruiters are recruiting you know that the market is busy. In May, new job ads in the Human Resources & Recruitment industry increased by 2.4%, which is a hopeful sign of more projects being put back into the pipeline.”

Similar to the states, where we saw all industries showing record months for job ads in April, we have seen a levelling off for many industries. The top three industries making a positive contribution to the growth of job ads m/m are Human Resources & Recruitment (2.4% m/m), Mining, Resources & Energy (1.9% m/m), and Information & Communications Technology (0.6% m/m).  

Below is an example of the types of roles most in-demand within the top three sectors for May: 

• Human Resources & Recruitment includes roles for consulting & generalist HR, recruitment – agency, recruitment – internal, occupational health & safety. 
• Mining, Energy & Resources with the bulk of roles available in mining – engineering and maintenance and mining operations.
• Information & Communications Technology with roles for developers/ programmers, software engineers, help desk & IT support and programme & project management.

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (May 2021 vs April 2021) 

Click for the latest SEEK Employment Reports or for more employment insights or career advice please visit SEEK’s Hiring Advice or SEEK's Career Advice

MEDIA NOTE: When reporting SEEK data, we request that you attribute SEEK as the source and refer to SEEK as an employment marketplace.