The latest SEEK Employment Report shows that job advertising volumes may have turned a corner after reaching a low point midway through April.
During April, job ad volumes showed a decline of 49.9 per cent month-on-month and 65.6 per cent year-on-year, however, SEEK says recent week-on-week job ad data looks ‘slightly more promising’.
Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ said that it is encouraging to see that Australia may be at a turning point in the employment market as the latest figures in May point to an easing in the rate of job advertising decline.
“April was the first full calendar month where we had a clear indication of how COVID-19 was impacting the employment market. The full set of social isolation measures were not imposed until mid-March, which explains why March job ad declines were 27.4 per cent, compared to April’s decline of 49.9 per cent.”
Banks detailed that in the week ended 10 May, job advertising on the site was down 59.7 per cent compared to the same week last year.
She said that at the lowest point in the week ending 19 April, job ads declined by 69.1 per cent compared to the same week in 2019.
“This 10 per cent shift means we may have turned a corner after reaching a particularly low point of decline.”
Banks said different industries have been impacted in different ways, as a direct result of their operating models.
She noted that the ‘Mining, Resources and Energy’ sector is ‘holding up reasonably well’, showing a decline of 11 per cent for the month, which is the lowest level of decline across all industries.
“In the first two weeks of May, we have seen job ad volumes slowly creep back up, which aligns to the will of governments to get the economy moving and get people back into jobs. We know this will take some time, which is why we are cautious to be too positive at this point,” Banks stated.
State of the states:
Western Australia appears to have been the least affected of the states with a lower level of job ad decline in April, down 42.4 per cent month on month, SEEK says.
Early May data also points to WA potentially being the first state on the road to recovery. ‘Construction’, ‘Mining, Resources and Energy’ and ‘Trades and Services’ sectors are offering increased job opportunities.
South Australia follows closely, with a month-on-month decline of 43.9 per cent in April. ‘Government and Defence’, ‘Information and Communication Technology’ and ‘Construction’ sectors are offering increased job opportunities for job seekers.
New South Wales and Victoria job ad data indicates that these two states have been the most impacted by the pandemic, showing month-on-month declines of -52.4 per cent and -56.3 per cent compared to March 2020.
Banks added: “As restrictions are lifted across the states and territories, it will be interesting to see which industries are the first movers to recover.”