SEEK Employment Report - strong performance in VIC helps national job growth in October

STATE OF THE NATION: STRONG PERFORMANCE IN VICTORIA HELPS NATIONAL JOB AD GROWTH IN OCTOBER

The latest SEEK Employment Report data shows continued strong m/m performance with an increase of 8.5% in national jobs advertised. This compares to last month’s growth of 9.2%.

Comparing October 2020 with October 2019, job ads are 11.7% lower, which notably is the smallest y/y decline since the pandemic began.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ comments: “We have seen positive national month-on-month job ad growth since the end of April. Significantly, job ad volume is 11.7% lower than 12 months ago, which represents the smallest gap in this metric since the pandemic began. This difference has been reducing each month as Australia continues its recovery, previously measuring at 20.9% and 29.1% in September and August respectively.

“Looking at the national picture, we have continued to see strong growth across all states and territories except the Northern Territory, which had a very small decline in October but is still up on this time last year.

“We would traditionally see a quieter job market for both candidates and hirers as we head into the summer months, particularly in December and January, before picking up again after Australia Day. Given recent trends, we will watch with interest to see if more job opportunities than usual arise ahead of the holiday period.”

Figure 1: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change (m/m)

STATE OF THE STATES: CONTINUED JOB ADS GROWTH IN NSW, VIC AND QLD

In October the m/m job ad growth rate in Victoria increased considerably by 16.4%. This is Victoria’s second consecutive month of growth, another positive sign the state is making its way back to pre-COVID levels.

In previous months we outlined job ads across all states and territories are recovering from their lowest point in April at three different rates:

• This month Queensland has moved up to the top tier of recovery to join Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory in fully rebounding or having job ad rates comparable to pre-COVID levels;
• New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory are continuing to recover towards pre-COVID levels, and;
• As mentioned, while Victoria’s recovery has been the laggard given its COVID-19 restrictions, the state has now performed strongly for the past two months.

Kendra Banks continues: “For the second month running, the top three states contributing to monthly job ads by volume are Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

“We know the nation’s job ad growth is closely linked to the conditions in New South Wales and Victoria, and we’re very pleased to report robust performances in both states for consecutive months. In October, Victoria increased its job ad growth rate by 16.4%, and New South Wales by 6.4%. However, both are growing off a comparatively lower base as they are still 15.7% and 31.3% down on this time last year respectively.

“Victoria’s strong rise in job ads posted on seek.com.au comes off the back of a further easing of restrictions across October, and with a much wider relaxation of restrictions in recent weeks, we can expect to see this growth to continue.

“We’re also pleased to report Queensland now has 1.5% more job ads on-site than 12 months ago, pushing the Sunshine State in to the same tier as Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory as states and territories that have job ad volumes the same or better than this time in 2019.”

Table 1: National, state and territory job ad growth/decline comparing October 2020 to: i) September 2020 (m/m) and; ii) October 2019 (y/y)

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (October 2020 vs September 2020)

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS

Topping the list of industries contributing the most to growth in jobs listed on seek.com.au is Trades & Services, followed by Healthcare & Medical and Hospitality & Tourism. Trades & Services and Healthcare & Medical have not only had the most significant m/m contribution growth, but both industries have more job ads than this time last year with a 16.2% and 2.7% increase respectively.

Below is an example of the sorts of the roles most in-demand within the top three sectors of Trades & Services, Healthcare & Medical and Hospitality & Tourism for the month of October:  

• Trades & Services with roles in automotive trades, labourers, electricians, hair & beauty services, welders & boiler makers, technicians, carpentry & cabinet making, gardening & landscaping being in demand.
• Healthcare & Medical including roles for physiotherapists, occupational therapists & rehabilitation, nurses – aged care and general medical, psychology, counselling & social work, dental and medical administration.
• Hospitality & Tourism with roles for chefs/ cooks, waiting staff, bar & beverage staff, management, kitchen & sandwich hands, house-keeping and front office & guest services.

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (October 2020 vs September 2020)    

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

Download the latest employment data here 

For more employment insights or career advice please visit SEEK’s Hiring Advice or SEEK's Career Advice

-ENDS-
 

About the SEEK Employment Report

The SEEK Employment Report provides a comprehensive overview of the Australian Employment Marketplace. The report includes the SEEK Employment Index (SEI), which is the first Australian aggregate indicator to measure the interaction between labour market supply and labour market demand.

It also includes the SEEK New Job Ad Index which measures only new job ads posted within the reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for labour across all classifications.

SEEK’s total job ad volume (not disclosed in this report) includes duplicated job advertisements and refreshed job ads. As a result, the SEEK New Job Ad Index does not always match the movement in SEEK’s total job ad volume.

Disclaimer: The Data should be viewed and regarded as standalone information and should not be aggregated with any other information whether such information has been previously provided by SEEK Limited, ("SEEK"). The Data is given in summary form and whilst care has been taken in its preparation, SEEK makes no representations whatsoever about its completeness or accuracy. SEEK expressly bears no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed by you on the Data, or from the use of the Data by you. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.

About SEEK

SEEK is a diverse group of companies, comprised of a strong portfolio of online employment, educational, commercial and volunteer businesses. SEEK has a global presence (including Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, South-East Asia, Brazil and Mexico), with exposure to over 2.9 billion people and approximately 27 per cent of global GDP. SEEK makes a positive contribution to people’s lives on a global scale. SEEK is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, where it is a top 100 company and has been listed in the Top 20 Most Innovative Companies by Forbes.