SEEK Employment Report - applications per job ad continue to rise

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Of the April data, Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ, says:

“April was an interrupted month with multiple public holidays and observances, which has led to a drop in job ad numbers month-on-month, notably through a fall in Hospitality & Tourism roles. Additionally, we expect year-on-year deficits to continue to grow, as this time last year we were in the middle of the Great Job Boom.

“Job ad volumes in many industries remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels despite falling in April, including Community Services & Development, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics and Trades & Services.

“Education & Training roles continue to buck the trending decline, rising for the fourth consecutive month. This confirms that there is a significant teacher shortage, particularly at the upper and lower levels of the discipline.

“Despite high job ad levels, candidates are also applying in greater number each month, which is a positive place for the market to be”.  

NATIONAL INSIGHTS

Job ads fell by 1.4% in April, the third decline in as many months. Job ad volumes are 19.1% lower compared to April 2022, when the Great Job Boom was nearing the peak, but are 24.7% higher than April 2019 (pre-COVID). More broadly across the January to April 2023 period, job ads are on average down 14% year-on-year which is expected, given the elevated levels experienced last year.

Applications per job ad rose 7.7% from the month prior and are now 72.6% higher than March 2022, when application levels were almost at their lowest.  These levels are nearing the pre-pandemic ‘normal’ demonstrating that, despite job ad volumes remaining historically high, candidate appetite is picking up.           

Figure 1: National SEEK job ad percentage change m/m April 2022 to April 2023

Table 1: National, state and territory and metro/ regional job ad growth/decline comparing April 2023 to: i) March 2023 (m/m), and ii) April 2022 (y/y).

Figure 2: Major state job ad trends: April 2020 to April 2023. Index 100 = 2013 average

STATE & TERRITORY INSIGHTS

Job ads rose m/m in South Australia (2.1%), Western Australia (1.4%) and Tasmania (1.3%), but fell in all other states and territories. Volumes in all states and territories are lower y/y.

This was the fourth consecutive month of job ad volumes rising in Western Australia, driven by a notable 17.2% increase in Education & Training, and a 4.7% lift in Mining, Resources & Energy job ads.

In South Australia, job ads in Education & Training, which rose 15.4%, also drove the overall rise in that state’s volumes, whereas in Tasmania an 8.8% uplift in Healthcare & Medical jobs ads saw ads for the southern-most state rise overall.

Applications per job ad are higher m/m in all states and territories.

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state: April 2023 vs March 2023

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

The Hospitality & Tourism and Information & Communication Technology industries drove the overall decline in job ad volumes, falling 5.6% and 2.9% respectively in April.  

Education & Training job ad volumes rose for a fourth consecutive month, jumping 5.3% nationally. Demand for workers in this industry are now at record levels, 2.6% higher than those recorded in August 2022, the last time volumes peaked for these jobs. Demand is particularly strong for Vocational Teachers, up 13% m/m, and Early Childhood Teachers which rose 10% m/m.

When comparing to April 2019, job ads in most industries are still at higher volumes, some significantly so, such as Community Services & Development (90.1%), Education & Training (80.3%) and Farming, Animals & Conservation (72.5%).

Applications per job ad have risen for most industries m/m, led by Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (12%) where Warehousing, Storage & Distribution and Road Transport roles in particular are attracting applications.

Community Services & Development roles are also seeing a rise in applications, growing 13% m/m. Notably, there has been an increase in applications for Aged & Disability Support and Child Welfare, Youth & Family Services roles.

Table 2: Top ten industries by job ad growth since “pre-pandemic”

Figure 4: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (April 2023 vs March 2023) – Ordered by job ad volume

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About the SEEK Employment Report

The SEEK Employment Report is Australia’s leading employment index and provides a comprehensive overview of the Australian Employment Marketplace. The report includes the SEEK Employment Index (SEI) which measures only new job ads posted within the reported month to provide a clean measure of demand for labour across all classifications.

Note: the SEI may differ to the job ad count on SEEK’s website due to a number of factors including: 1) seasonal adjustments applied to the SEI; 2) the exclusion of duplicated job ads from the SEI; and 3) the exclusion of Company Listings (included under Company Profiles) from the SEI.

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 market leader in online employment marketplaces that span ten countries across Asia Pacific and Latin America. SEEK invests heavily to create innovative technology products to help people live more fulfilling and productive working lives and help organisations succeed.

Last year, SEEK was recognised as one of Australia’s Top Ten Places to Work in Tech in the AFR BOSS Best Places to Work awards and in 2023 celebrates 25 years since the launch of seek.com.au.