SEEK Employment Report - job ads record marginal fall in February

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

“The job market remains tight when comparing to pre-COVID, but in the context of last year’s Great Job Boom, the market has eased and candidate activity is returning to normal levels.

“Both job ad volumes and applications per job ad declined from the month prior, though only marginally, and it’s important to keep in mind job ads are coming down from the very high levels of early 2022.

“Healthcare & Medical, Education & Training and Community Services & Development were among the few industries that increased in February, with roles in Aged Care Nursing, Childcare and Aged & Disability Support among the greatest in volume and the most in demand to fill.”

_{*Applications per job ad are reported with a one-month lag. Applications per job ad data referenced in this report refers to January data.}

NATIONAL INSIGHTS

Job ads fell by 1.6% from January to February and are 12.2% down y/y. Volumes remain 1.3% higher than they were in December and 24.1% higher than February 2019.

While applications per job ad also fell for the first time in eight months, dropping 1.8%, current levels remain among the highest they have been in the past two years.

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

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

Figure 2: Major state job ad trends: February 2020 to February 2023

STATE & TERRITORY INSIGHTS

While job ads declined overall, two states and the Northern Territory recorded an increase in job ad volume in February; Northern Territory (5.0%), Western Australia (1.4%) and Tasmania (0.1%).

In Queensland, an 11.5% drop in Information & Communication Technology roles drove a 1.5% decline in total volume for the state. In NSW, Hospitality & Tourism roles, which fell 4.5% in the state, drove job ad levels downwards.  In Victoria, a 2.6% drop in Trades & Services job ads led to total levels declining.

Western Australia was the only state to record an increase in applications per job ad in January, with increases in applications for Trades & Services (7.4%) and Mining, Resources & Energy roles (9.9%) resulting in the overall volume increasing by 2.1%.

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state: February 2023 vs January 2023

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Job ads in most industries recorded low, single digit decline in February. The larger declines were felt in some of the smaller industries, including Design & Architecture (-7.1%) and Sport & Recreation (-6.2%).

Of those industries that recorded an increase in jobs ads m/m,  Healthcare & Medical, Education & Training and Community Services & Development were the greatest by volume.

In fact, when considering job ad volume at the role level, some of the roles most in need of workers in February were those offering care and support for our oldest and youngest Australians – Childcare & Outside School Hours Care, Aged Care Nursing and Aged & Disability Support.

Table 2: Top ten roles on SEEK in February by job ad volume  

Figure 4: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (February 2023 vs January 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.