SEEK Employment Report - October sees record high job ad numbers

STATE OF THE NATION: RESTRICTION EASING LEADS TO DOUBLE-DIGIT JOB AD GROWTH

The latest SEEK Employment Report shows national job ad volumes increased by 10.2% m/m in October. Job ad volumes were 63.2% higher nationally than in the same month in 2020 and up 44.0% compared to 2019.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ, comments: “In October, SEEK had more jobs ads on-site than ever before.

“A combination of the lifting of restrictions in our two largest employment markets, New South Wales and Victoria, along with businesses getting ready for what will hopefully be a bumper holiday period has had a huge impact on this month’s job ad volumes.

“In New South Wales, job ads increased by more than 20% for the second month running, and Victoria recorded growth of 16.3%. In both states, roles within Hospitality & Tourism led the way with a jump of 46.2% in New South Wales and 123.8% in Victoria.”

Traffic to seek.com.au remains high, but with more jobs on site than ever before, applications per ad are low compared to historical trends.

Kendra Banks continues: “One of the many factors that impact hirers who find it challenging to recruit is the very large number of open roles currently available. Despite site visits remaining high, there is still a hesitancy, particularly with customer-facing roles, with people not wanting to move jobs just yet.

Recent SEEK data* shows that 28 per cent of Australians are likely to consider changing jobs in the next six months.

“Traditionally the lead up to the end of the year is not a time to switch jobs. Therefore, we expect more movement early in 2022."

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

STATE OF THE STATES: ALL STATES AND TERRITORIES SHOW GROWTH COMPARED TO OCTOBER 2020 AND 2019

The latest SEEK job ad data shows that most states have experienced m/m growth, with a slight decline in Western Australia and Tasmania.  

Kendra Banks continues: “Over the course of the pandemic, the easing of restrictions has led to job ads quickly returning to seek.com.au. This has been the case in Victoria, as job ads have increased 16.3% from September to October.

“The only two states to report a slight decline were Tasmania and Western Australia – however when taking a longer-term view WA has remained quite consistent since March 2021 and has 61.0% more job ads now than two years ago, and similarly Tasmania has 76.7% more ads than October 2019.

“Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory all had more jobs advertised on SEEK than ever before, and the remaining states and territories were only marginally below previous record highs.”

Figure 1: State and Territory job ad volumes – October 2019 to October 2021

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (October 2021 vs September 2021)

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS: NATIONALLY EVERY INDUSTRY INCREASED MONTH-ON-MONTH

As restrictions have eased, job ads across all industries have grown. Customer-facing roles drove a lot of the growth, mainly in Trades & Service and Hospitality & Tourism.

Kendra Banks comments: “Job ad levels rose in every industry nationally in October. Customer-facing roles are faring particularly well, with more businesses preparing for the summer holidays.

“Jobs advertised within the Hospitality & Tourism industry grew by 35.5.% in October, Trades & Services also saw a rise of 7.5% and Retail & Consumer Products increased by 6.3%.

“Roles for Fitness & Personal Training and Coaching & Instruction have also seen a bounce as gyms reopened. Sports & Recreation roles, although a relatively small number of jobs compared to other industries, has increased by 26.5%.”

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

• 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, OT & rehabilitation, aged care nursing, dental, psychology, counselling & social work and general & surgical nursing.
• 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 (October 2021 vs September 2021)

*Source: Independent research conducted by Nature on behalf of SEEK. Interviewing 4,800 Australians annually

 

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.