SEEK reveals the sectors that are hiring again
Consumer services – including administration, hospitality and tourism, sales, retail – make up 19 per cent of new job ads on SEEK. See which other fields are hiring now.
National
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Employment sectors hit hardest by COVID-19 restrictions are bouncing back, with job ad levels more than doubling over the past month.
SEEK data revealed a 124 per cent increase in consumer services jobs – including administration and office support, hospitality and tourism, sales, retail and consumer products, real estate and property, call centre and customer service, sport and recreation, and advertising, arts and media – in the fortnight ending May 24 compared to the April average.
SEEK Australia and New Zealand managing director Kendra Banks said consumer services accounted for 19 per cent of new job ads during that two-week period.
By comparison, the public sector made up 27 per cent of new job ads, followed by professional services (23 per cent), construction (19 per cent) and the industrial sector (12 per cent).
Overall, SEEK recorded a 40 per cent increase in job advertising compared to the April average – a further uplift from 27 per cent in the previous two weeks.
All states and territories experienced growth – led by Tasmania (up 59 per cent), then Queensland (up 55 per cent), South Australia (52 per cent), Victoria (42 per cent), Western Australia (41 per cent), Northern Territory (40 per cent), New South Wales (31 per cent) and Australian Capital Territory (13 per cent).
“Although it was another week of positive trends, it is still important to remember that we still have a long way to go before we return to pre-COVID levels,” Ms Banks said.
“As social restrictions continue to ease, we expect to see more opportunities open up for jobseekers as businesses and hirers look to get their operations back up and running.”
Commonwealth Bank head of Australian economics Gareth Aird said it made sense jobs were growing fastest in areas that experienced the most losses.
“The biggest fall has been in accommodation and food services so you have got to expect some of those jobs to come back, provided those businesses can reopen,” he said.
“We are clearly not going to get all of them back but there will be businesses who had employed casuals before that didn’t make it onto JobKeeper so when they reopen they are effectively rehiring.”
Although Mr Aird did not expect another “big shock” to the job market as was seen in April, he believed unemployment rates would continue to rise.
“A lot of people who lost their job in April will have gone onto JobSeeker but won’t have been actively looking for work because there is no work in what they previously did,” he said.
“(People were only) identified as being unemployed if they were looking for work.
“There will also be people out there considered employed at the moment that don’t really have a job to go back to.
“(After JobKeeper ends in September) the business paying them JobKeeper may no longer need them or they will get significantly reduced hours.
“We have seen the wost as far as the big fall in jobs, but at CommBank our expectation is we won’t get back to the level of employment we had pre-COVID for several years.”
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News Corp, in partnership with recruitment technology provider Shortlyster, has launched the Australian National Talent Registry to connect jobseekers with employers in a new way that recognises their skills and experience and matches them to vacancies as they are advertised. To sign up, click on your state: NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, TAS, NT
Originally published as SEEK reveals the sectors that are hiring again