Vacant construction job numbers boom in Geelong

One industry has seen the number of vacant jobs double in the Geelong region in a month, with more jobs available than this time last year.

THE number of vacant construction jobs has doubled in the Geelong region in a month and is well ahead of this time last year.

Job vacancies in the sector rose from 91 in August to 204 in September according to data from the Geelong Careers website that aggregates G21 region jobs.

Marianne Messer, who tracks jobs for Geelong Careers, said the construction boom was not only due to a rise in residential construction.

“Housing is a big player but a lot of jobs are in civil construction, infrastructure construction and commercial property,” Ms Messer said.

“There’s a big push in Geelong with government agencies moving their head offices here so we are having a growth in population and that’s reflected in the construction numbers.

“People need places to work, to live and places to send their children to school and childcare.

“We are experiencing with construction a foretaste of something that’s going to continue.”

The tourism and hospitality sector, taking the brunt of the fallout from COVID-19 restrictions, has experienced a drop in available jobs.

While numbers are up from seven to 27 from August to September, the level of jobs in the sector is well down on the 78 that were available in September last year.

Ms Messer said rises in creative industry and charity sector job vacancies was a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social work and charity sector jobs rose from 40 in August to 71 in September as charities sought more workers to help with an increased demand for their services. Creative industry jobs rose from 11 to 32 in the same time, a result of businesses looking for workers to help them boost their online presence, Ms Messer said.

She said employment in health-related fields continued to be strong with 166 jobs advertised in September in the region taking in Greater Geelong, the Borough of Queenscliffe, and the Surf Coast, Golden Plains and Colac Otway shires.

“Health has been one of our strongest performing industries for five to six years based on Geelong Careers data. That reflects the ageing nature of our population,” she said.

Originally published as Vacant construction job numbers boom in Geelong