Tradies still hardest to find despite construction sector topping company failure data
Jobs and Skills Australia produces a Labour Market Update every three months. The most recent update provides a deep dive into recent changes and trends in the Australian labour market.
Here’s a selection of relevant data (all for the three months to the end of March 2023 unless otherwise noted):
Full time jobs and women in jobs lead employment gains: Total employment increased by 106,100 (or 0.8%). Full-time employment rose by 107,700 (or 1.1%), while part-time employment decreased by 1,600. Employment for women rose by 79,000 (or 1.2%) over the three months to March 2023. Moreover, the vast majority (87%) of female employment growth over the period was concentrated in full-time jobs
Construction jobs still growing while construction companies failures accelerate: Construction jobs rose by the third-highest rate (up by 27,600, or 2.1 per cent) at the same time that the sector has recorded 1601 insolvencies in the financial year to date, more than double the number of the next highest sector (accommodation and food services). Over the twelve months to March, the Construction sector recorded the highest job growth of all 19 sectors with a rise of 146,200 jobs, or 12.4 per cent. The Construction industry has experienced seven consecutive quarters of employment growth, with employment increasing by 187,100 people (or 16.5%) since August 2021.
Tradies still hardest to hire: From a major occupational group perspective, employers had the most difficulty filling vacancies for Technicians and Trades Workers, with just 49% of vacancies filled in the March 2023 quarter. Shortages within this broad group of occupations appear to be persistent over time. The proportion of vacancies filled were particularly low during the March 2023 quarter for Construction Trades Workers (28%); Automotive and Engineering Trades Workers (35%); and Electrotechnology and Telecommunications Trades Workers (35%)
Labourers in high demand but sales workers drop significantly: The largest increases in employment were recorded for Labourers (up by 41,900 or 3.5%), Clerical and Administrative Workers (up by 35,400 or 2.0%) and Technicians and Trades Workers (up by 34,500 or 1.8%). Employment fell the most for Sales Workers (down by 33,500 or 3.0%) and Machinery Operators and Drivers (down by 5,900 or 0.7%)\.
Proportion of employers hiring remains at near record highs: the proportion of employers recruiting (currently or in the past month) was 55% in each month from January to March 2023, having declined from a peak of 59% (in both May 2022 and July 2022).
Staff turnover remains the main reason for recruiting activity: In March 2023 a near-record high of 64% of employers were recruiting for turnover only (10 percentage points higher than was recorded in February 2023) and a further 14% recruiting for a mix of both turnover and new roles. Employers recruiting for turnover only reached a record peak of 65% in both March 2022 and July 2022. The March 2023 result reverses a trend seen from July 2022 through to February 2023, where recruiting for turnover only had been declining.
Applicants per job continues to increase: The average number of applicants per vacancy has increased from 10.1 in the March 2022 quarter to 14.1 in the March 2023 quarter, an increase of around 40% over 12 months. As a comparison, the March 2023 SEEK Employment Report highlighted that average applications per SEEK job advertisement rose by 48.5% over the same 12-month period.
Education sector hits record jobs high: The Education and Training industry reached a record high in the February 2023 quarter, growing by 16,700 people (or 1.5%) over the quarter. This growth is largely due to an increase in employment in the Preschool Education sector (up by 19,700 or 23.7%), with strong demand for and increased attendance hours at preschools a contributing factor
Participation rate continues at near record level: The participation rate increased by 0.1 percentage points over the period, to 66.7% in March 2023, and is close to the equal record high of 66.8% recorded in June 2022 and November 2022. The Northern Territory recorded the highest participation rate, of 75.2% in March 2023 (Darwin has the youngest median age of all capital cities at 34.5 years), while Tasmania recorded the lowest participation rate, of 63.7% (Hobart has the second-highest median age of all state capitals at 38.6 years)
NSW is the only state going backward with jobs: Employment rose in all States and Territories except in New South Wales. Victoria (up by 73,400 or 2.1%) and Queensland (up by 22,300 or 0.8%) recorded the largest increases in employment over the period.
Administration sector hardest hit by job losses: Administrative and Support Services lost 48,800 jobs, followed by Transport, Postal and Warehousing (down by 44,500 jobs), then Financial and Insurance Services (down by 31,900 jobs).
Job mobility highest for 11 years: 1.3 million people changed jobs during the year ending February 2022 (the most recent data available), equating to a job mobility rate of 9.5% of all employed people. This was the highest rate of job mobility since 2012 in the annual series. The share of job mobility remained highest for Professionals, at 22% of those who changed jobs.
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