SEEK Employment Report - Job ad numbers drop as restrictions continue in August

STATE OF THE NATION: JOB AD NUMBERS DROP AS RESTRICTIONS CONTINUE ACROSS THE BIGGEST STATES

The latest SEEK Employment Report shows that national job ad volumes have dropped by 5.3% m/m in August. However, job ads remain 15.2% higher nationally than in the same month in 2019.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ, comments: “COVID-19 restrictions continued to have a major impact on the labour market in August 2021. Perhaps unsurprisingly, states and territories under the strictest lockdowns each saw a decline in job ad volumes. New South Wales and Victoria saw the most significant drops in volume down 10.7% and 6.3% month-on-month, respectively.

“In July, despite a two-week restriction period, Victoria experienced an increase in the number of job ads posted during the month, however with the lockdown extended throughout the whole month of August, job ad numbers have now declined. This demonstrates that short lockdowns don’t have too much of an impact on the labour market, but when extended, more businesses start to put hiring plans on hold.

“Nationally, the industries that have experienced the largest volume drop month-on-month are Hospitality & Tourism (-19.0%), Trades & Services (-7.3%) and Retail & Consumer Products (-8.9%). Last month the decline was driven by the restrictions in New South Wales, this month, Victoria is driving the reduction. Hospitality & Tourism job ads dropped 33.1% month-on-month in Victoria.

SEEK.com.au had around 35 million visits last month, though applications per job ad declined slightly by 1.3% month-on-month and remain at low levels.

Kendra Banks continues: “Jobseekers are still not applying at the same rates as they were before COVID-19, with a 1.3% drop in applications per job ad in August. With restrictions and uncertainty continuing across our major job markets, it is timely to remind those considering a move that opportunities are out there in many industries”

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

STATE OF THE STATES: RESTRICTIONS DRIVE DECLINE IN VOLUMES

According to the latest SEEK job ad data, the half of the country most impacted by restrictions experienced drops in job ad volumes.

Kendra Banks continues: “In August we have again seen the stark impact of COVID-19 restrictions.

“South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory had increases in job ad volumes. Conversely, levels in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT have declined following various increases in local restrictions and lockdowns.”

“All states and territories have more job ads than the same month in 2019 except for New South Wales and the ACT which are down by 11.7% and 6.5% respectively. “

Figure 1: State job ad volumes – August 2019 to August 2021

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (August 2021 vs July 2021)

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS: CUSTOMER-FACING ROLES IMPACTED SIGNIFICANTLY

The industries that are impacted the hardest in August are customer-facing roles.

In New South Wales, industries that contributed the most to the m/m decline were Administration & Office Support (-15.9%), Community Services & Development (-15.6%) and Trades & Services (-8.1%).

In Victoria, industries that contributed the most to the m/m decline were Hospitality & Tourism (-33.1%), Trades & Services (-6.5%) and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (-6.6%).

Kendra Banks comments: “In Victoria, the sharp decline in job ad volumes in customer-facing industries drove the decline in those sectors at a national level.

“Job ad volumes in Hospitality & Tourism declined 19.0% nationally and 33.1% in Victoria, while volumes in Trades & Services dropped by 7.3% nationally and 6.5% in Victoria.”  

There are still plenty of opportunities for jobseekers across the country.

The top three industries with the most jobs on SEEK nationally right now are:

• Trades & Services with roles in automotive trades, labourers, electricians, welders & boiler makers, technicians, carpentry & cabinet making, and hair & beauty services.
• Healthcare & Medical with roles in physiotherapy, occupational therapy & rehabilitation, aged care nursing, dental, psychology, counselling & social work and general & surgical nursing.
• Information & Communications Technology with roles for developers/ programmers, software engineers, help desk & IT support and programme & project management

Table 2: The top three industries in terms of job ad numbers are as follows:

KEY:

• Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
• Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (MT&L)
• Government & Defence (G&D)
• Community Services & Development (CS&D)

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (August 2021 vs July 2021)

Click for the latest SEEK Employment Report data 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.