Massive opportunities for Aussie jobseekers as employers beg for workers

There are huge opportunities out there for Australian jobseekers, with employers begging for workers, new data shows.

Staff shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have left hundreds of thousands of jobs going begging, giving jobseekers once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to pick and choose where and how they work, new data shows.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Wednesday revealed there were a whopping 396,000 job vacancies in November – 169,000 more than before the start of the health crisis – coinciding with the easing of Delta outbreak lockdown restrictions in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

“Job vacancies continue to reach new record highs through the pandemic,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

“Many businesses continued to report difficulties in filling their vacancies.

“These figures continue to show the high demand for workers from businesses emerging from lockdowns, together with ongoing labour shortages, particularly in lower paying industries.”

Many restaurants and cafes have had to close their doors due to staff shortages during the Omicron outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

Three customer-facing, lockdown-sensitive sectors had by far more job vacancies compared with February 2020, with arts and recreation services way out front at the top of the list, followed by accommodation and food services, and rental, hiring and real estate services.

Along with manufacturing, and health care and social assistance, these five industries had more than 100 per cent greater job vacancies than pre-pandemic – up a staggering 270.6 per cent for arts and recreation services.

The figures show retail and construction sectors are also desperately seeking workers.

Administration and support services had the lowest increase in job vacancies but they were still up a substantial 28 per cent.

Job openings were highest in Western Australia, up 120 per cent, likely due to its tough border stance locking out interstate and overseas workers.

Of all the states and territories, the ACT had the lowest increase in work opportunities, but they were still up a huge 49 per cent.

Job vacancies in the retail sector were 90.5 per cent higher in November than in February 2020 before the pandemic erupted. Picture: David Swift / NCA NewsWire

Callam Pickering, APAC economist at job site Indeed, said it was a very favourable labour market for jobseekers despite the impact of the Omicron variant.

“They have more bargaining power to ask for higher wages or better conditions or the ability to work remotely,” Mr Pickering said.

“There has never been this many jobs available at the same time.”

CBA senior economist Belinda Allen said it was still early days for assessing the impact of the Omicron outbreak on the labour market, but with staff shortages clearly evident, businesses might be reluctant to shed staff.

While international borders reopened on December 15 to skilled migrants, flight scheduling and the Omicron outbreak “could lead to some caution despite the strong local jobs market”, she said.