Seek: Australian job ads bounce back to pre-COVID levels, demand for trades surges

Jobs ads are back at the level they were at before COVID-19, new Seek data shows. These are the industries where you can find a job.

If you’re a tradesperson you’re in luck, with demand surging colossally and plenty of jobs on offer, new data suggests.

Online service Seek’s first employment report of the year, released on Wednesday, showed job ads in Australia had bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, with a 4.1 per cent increase in national advertisements in February compared with the previous month.

All states and territories recorded year-on-year growth for the first time since the health crisis began, with the total national figure an impressive 12.4 per cent.

Trades and services was the most in demand sector by far, with jobs ads rocketing 40.9 per cent compared to the same time last year.

Seek said the most in-demand roles were automotive tradespeople, labourers, electricians, welders and boilermakers, technicians, carpenters and cabinet makers, and hair and beauty service providers.

Demand for trades is strong.

There were also lots of jobs in manufacturing, transport and logistics, which recorded a 31 per cent year-on-year ad surge.

Examples include warehousing, storage and distribution, road transport, assembly and process work, machine operators, couriers and postal services.

Hospitality and tourism positions such as chefs/cooks, waiting, bar and beverage staff, and front office and guest services was not far behind, with ads up 30.5 per cent year-on-year.

Seek Australia/New Zealand managing director Kendra Banks said professional services was the only sector to still be showing a year-on-year decline.

“However, 10.1 per cent is the smallest gap we have seen and is being more than made up for by the other sectors,” Ms Banks said.

“Professional services roles tend to be the more office-based corporate roles that are based in a CBD.”

She said it was the fourth consecutive month of national year-on-year job ad increases and a very encouraging start to 2021, especially considering there was usually a drop throughout December and into the start of January.

Only WA had a dip in February compared with January after a snap lockdown, Seek says.

“Pleasingly, in 2021, businesses have been looking to hire from the very first week of the year,” Ms Banks said.

“NSW and ACT were the only two states, before last month, not to have returned to pre-COVID levels.”

On a month-on-month basis, the only jurisdiction that didn’t have more ads on Seek was Western Australia, which eased 2.2 per cent.

“This can be most likely be attributed to the short lockdown period,” Ms Banks said.

Perth, Peel and the South West region were plunged into a five-day lockdown in early February after a hotel quarantine security guard tested positive for the highly contagious UK variant strain.

“Lockdowns have a noticeable impact on job ad postings – however, recruitment activity recovers once restrictions lift,” Ms Banks said.

Commonwealth Bank economists estimate that up to 110,000 jobs may be lost from the end of March when JobKeeper ceases.