SA job vacancies boom to highest in a decade in November 2020

Rob Lucas said figures showing job vacancies at a 10 year high was a positive sign for SA’s COVID recovery.

The number of jobs available in South Australia skyrocketed to its highest level a decade in November, with about 15,600 up for grabs.

The last time SA had more job vacancies was November 2010, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released today.

The number of job vacancies in SA was almost 37 per cent higher than at the same time in 2019.

It was an increase of 24.6 per cent from the August quarter, when 12,500 jobs were available.

Nationwide, there were 259,000 job vacancies in the November quarter, or 12 per cent more than at the same time in 2019.

South Australian Treasurer Rob Lucas. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Treasurer Rob Lucas said the number of job vacancies was a “very positive” sign for the SA economy as it recovered from the pandemic.

Some sectors such as tourism were still struggling, but most were recovering, he said.

The construction sector was going “gangbusters”.

“Businesses are only going to be employing people if they have confidence in the future,” he said, noting the COVID vaccine rollout was imminent and many businesses still had access to tax breaks or government financial support.

At the end of 2020, jobs website Seek also recorded its highest number of SA jobs advertisements since 2013.

Electricians, tradespeople, hair and beauty technicians, physiotherapists, dentists, aged-care and transport workers were some of the most-advertised jobs in SA.

Hospitality workers were also in demand.

Analysis provided to The Advertisershowed there were 55 per cent more retail jobs on seek.com.au compared with the same time in 2019, and 44 per cent more manufacturing, transport and logistics jobs.

There were 29 per cent more constructions jobs on the site, and 26 per cent more HR and recruitment jobs.