SEEK Employment Report - 2021 off to a strong start

STATE OF THE NATION: NEW JOB ADS KICK OFF POSITIVELY IN 2021

The first SEEK Employment Report of the year shows continued positive m/m performance with an increase of 4.0% in national jobs advertised.

In addition to this strong m/m growth, new job ads on SEEK.com.au have increased by 6.5% comparing January 2021 with January 2020.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ, comments: “In a very encouraging start to the year, we are continuing to see positive job ad growth nationally.

“Traditionally, we would see a drop in new job ad growth throughout December, and into the start of January. Pleasingly, in 2021, businesses have been looking to hire from the very first week of the year. 

“New job ads posted on SEEK grew 4% month-on-month, and looking at the year-on-year comparison, we have now seen December 2020 and January 2021 increase by 5% and 6.5% respectively. This is the third consecutive month of year-on-year increases.”

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

In addition to growth in new job ads, SEEK Business has also experienced a very strong January.

Kendra Banks continues: “SEEK Business is Australia’s most visited business-for-sale marketplace. In January, seekbusiness.com.au saw a record number for traffic. In a sign of more Australians looking to branch out into business ownership, site visits rose 23% and enquiries were up 45% year-on-year.”

STATE OF THE STATES: MOST STATES SAW AN INCREASE IN NEW JOB ADS COMPARED TO JANUARY 2020

We have previously explained the country is split between two groups as they recover from the impact of COVID, with states and territories recovering from their lowest point in April at different rates. After another strong monthly performance, Victoria has passed its pre-COVID level for new job ads with 1.8% more job ads y/y.

Victoria now joins Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory, as fully rebounding with job ad volumes higher than the same time last year. New South Wales and the ACT are close to this milestone.

Kendra Banks continues: “Tasmania, Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland all have job ad volumes significantly higher than in January 2020.

“Despite New South Wales and the ACT having job ad levels lower than this time last year, both are at the highest levels since the pandemic began and have steadily recovered.  

“We know from 2020 that when a lockdown occurs, a swift and immediate impact on job ad volumes usually follows. The recent restrictions that were imposed in Perth at the start of this month may also have an impact on job ad volumes in WA in February’s data.”

Table 1: National, state and territory job ad growth/decline comparing January 2021 to: i) December 2020 (m/m) and; ii) January 2020 (y/y)

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (January 2020 vs December 2021)

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS: TRADES & SERVICES IS LEADING THE INDUSTRIES

The top three industries that are making a positive contribution to the growth of job ads y/y are Trades & Services, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics, and Hospitality & Tourism.  All three of these industries are showing extremely strong growth comparing January 2020 to January 2021. Trades & Services are 40.9% up y/y, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics is up 31.0% y/y and Hospitality & Tourism is up 30.5% y/y.

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

• Trades & Services with roles in automotive trades, labourers, electricians, welders & boiler makers, technicians, carpentry & cabinet making, and hair & beauty services being in demand.
• Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics with roles in warehousing, storage & distribution, road transport, assembly & process work, machine operators, couriers, drivers & postal services.
• Hospitality & Tourism includes roles for chefs/ cooks, Waiting staff, bar & beverage staff, management, kitchen & sandwich hands and front office & guest services.

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (January 2021 vs December 2020)

Download the latest employment data here 

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.