Timesheet Login
Contact Us

Seek Employment Report – All states and territories had year-on-year growth in February

OVERVIEW OF FEBRUARY 2021:

STATE OF THE NATION:

  • SEEK job ads were up 12.4% year-on-year (y/y). This is the fourth consecutive month of y/y job ad growth.
  • SEEK job ads were up by 4.1% month-on-month (m/m).
  • The top three industries contributing to y/y growth were Trades & Services, Hospitality & Tourism and Healthcare & Medical.

STATE OF THE STATES:

  • For the first time since the pandemic began, every state and territory saw y/y job ad growth.
  • The top three states that contributed the most to y/y job ad growth were New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
  • All states and territories saw a m/m increase in job ads, except Western Australia, which had a small drop of 2.2%.

STATE OF THE NATION: FEBRUARY 2021 WAS A STRONG MONTH OF GROWTH

The latest SEEK Employment Report shows continued positive y/y performance with an increase of 12.4% in national jobs advertised.

In addition to this strong y/y growth, new job ads on seek.com.au have increased by 4.1%, comparing February 2021 to January 2021.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ, comments:“It is close to 12 months since COVID-19 severely impacted the employment market, and we are pleased to observe continued improvement with the healthiest year-on-year job ad growth since the pandemic began. In February, there was year-on-year growth of 12.4% and month-on-month growth of 4.1%.

“For the first time since before the pandemic, all states and territories saw year-on-year growth in job ads posted on seek.com.au. New South Wales and ACT were the only two states, before last month, not to have returned to pre-COVID levels. In February, NSW saw an increase of 3.6% y/y, and ACT was 5.0% higher.”

Figure 1: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change (m/m) – January 2020 to February 2021

Kendra Banks continues: “Professional Services is the only sector to still be showing a y/y decline, however, 10.1% is the smallest gap we have seen and is being more than made up for by the other sectors. Professional Services roles tend to be the more office-based corporate roles that are based in a CBD.”

Table 1: National sector breakdown comparing February 2021 vs February 2020

STATE OF THE STATES: ALL STATES AND TERRITORIES HIGHER THAN PRE-COVID LEVELS

The states and territories have recovered at different rates since the low point of April 2020. We have previously explained the country is split between two groups, those that have reached and surpassed pre-COVID levels and those that are still recovering.

Victoria moved up into the ‘higher than pre-COVID levels’ group in January.  Last month, after strong ad volume growth for New South Wales and ACT, all states and territories have higher job ad volumes than 12 months ago.

Kendra Banks continues: “With continued, strong month-on-month growth, off the back of an already strong January, it is great to see all states and territories showing new job ads at levels higher than pre-COVID.

“However, we were reminded in February that restrictions and lockdowns will still be a factor in 2021, with Western Australia and Victoria both experiencing short lockdowns. Looking at the weekly job ad numbers, lockdowns have a noticeable impact on job ad postings – however, recruitment activity recovers once restrictions lift. Victoria had positive monthly job ad growth, WA’s month-on-month job ad number was slightly lower in February 2021 than January. This can be most likely be attributed to the short lockdown period.”

Figure 2: Western Australia and Victoria’s weekly job ad trends for 2021 highlighting impact of lockdown 

Table 2: National, state and territory job ad growth/decline comparing February 2021 to: i) January 2021 (m/m) and; ii) February 2020 (y/y)

Figure 3: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by state (February 2021 vs January 2021)

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SECTORS: TRADES & SERVICES CONTINUES TO LEAD THE INDUSTRIES

Every industry, except Farming, Animals and Conservation saw m/m growth from a strong January 2021 to February 2021. The top three industries that are making a positive contribution to the growth of job ads y/y are Trades & Services, Hospitality & Tourism, and Healthcare & Medical.  All three of these industries are showing significant growth comparing February 2020 to February 2021. Trades & Services are 50.1% up y/y, Hospitality & Tourism is up 47.9% y/y and Healthcare & Medical is up 20.7% y/y.

Below is an example of the types of roles most in-demand within the top three sectors for February:

  • Trades & Services with roles in automotive trades, labourers, electricians, welders & boiler makers, technicians, carpentry & cabinet making, and hair & beauty services.
  • Hospitality & Tourism includes roles for chefs/ cooks, waiting staff, bar & beverage staff, management, kitchen & sandwich hands and front office & guest services.
  • Healthcare & Medical with roles in physiotherapy, OT & rehabilitation, aged care nursing, dental, psychology, counselling & social work and general & surgical nursing.

Figure 4: National SEEK Job Ad percentage change by industry (February 2021 vs January 2021)

MEDIA NOTE: When reporting SEEK data, we request that you attributeSEEK as the source and refer to SEEK as an employment marketplace.

Download the latest SEEK Employment data here

Stay connected.
Subscribe to our Newsletter.

Have questions? We have answers.
What are the benefits of working with Employ?

Our business is personal. While other recruiters are moving towards automating as much of the recruitment process as possible, we believe there is value in human-to-human connectivity.

 

We are committed to delivering an exceptional partnership service that enhances your existing HR processes and adds value to your business and your staff. Whether you’re looking for recruitment solutions, outsourced payroll, HR Advisory services or an RPO model, our in-depth, compliance-focussed processes will inspire confidence and get results.

 

Find out more or call us on 02 9235 3777.

What industries do you specialise in?

We connect talented candidates with great organisations for all industries and for all job levels, but over the years we have developed a reputation as specialist recruiters for specific sectors and areas of business operations, including the financial services, mortgages, and not for profit sectors, business services and call centres.

 

Find out more about our areas of expertise or call us on 02 9235 3777.

What other services do you offer aside from recruiting?

We do more than source amazing staff. We offer a comprehensive range of solutions to ensure that when we partner with you, we can provide a job search and hiring solution that fits your business needs. Our team of consultants are specialists in RPO and Managed Vendor Services, Onboarding and Payroll & HR Advisory.

 

Find out more about the services we offer or call us on 02 9235 3777.

Which states and territories do you service?

We provide services to all states and territories in Australia.

How do you screen and assess candidates?

Every candidate we onboard undertakes skills and ability testing, psychometric testing and background screening. Our testing tools are web-based and can be accessed by all devices from any location.

 

General Skills Abilities tests language and communication, maths and digital literacy, typing and data entry and Microsoft Office applications.

 

Occupational Skills Tests are designed for a range of sectors including call centre, health, hospitality, legal, safety and administration, financial, industrial, sales and marketing, application and web development, hardware and networks and education.

 

Psychometric testing provides an accurate picture of a candidate’s personality, ability and fit for their role and your company.

 

We have partnered with ProbityPeople to provide employment background screening services for our candidates and clients. ProbityPeople is an accredited agency with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and accredited by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) as a Stay Smart Online Partner.

 

Find out more or call us on 02 9235 3777.

How do I register with Employ?

All you have to do is click on the register link below, provide us with some basic information like your name, email and mobile number and upload your resume. When we receive your registration, we will call you for a confidential discussion to find out more about you, your current circumstances and what you are looking for in a new role so we can match you with existing roles or place you in our file of ready to hire candidates.

 

Are you ready to register with us?

What kind of roles does Employ recruit for?

We connect talented candidates with great organisations for all industries and for all job levels, but over the years we have developed a reputation as specialist recruiters for specific sectors and areas of business operations, including the financial services, mortgages, and not for profit sectors, business services and call centres.

 

Some of the roles we place include:

  • mortgage processing, credit, completion and collections
  • banking operations, financial advisers, credit, customer service, trading, sales, business development and risk and compliance
  • team leaders, call centre operators, customer service officers, inbound/outbound consultants, quality assurance, operations managers, product managers
  • campaign managers, support workers, administrators, marketing, accounts, social workers and counsellors
  • call or contact centre representatives, information officers, administration officers and software and application programmers.

Check out our featured roles or register with us.

Can I have a chat to your recruitment specialists without registering with you?

You are welcome to call us for a casual conversation. You’ll speak with an experienced consultant who knows the industry inside and out.

 

If you register with us and choose us to assist with your job search, you will be our first call for new roles, and we will place you on our register for short term temp roles while you search for your dream job. You’ll receive regular wellbeing check-ins and have access to career coaching and extensive interview preparation.

What happens after I submit my resume to you?

The first thing we will do is review your resume and call you for a confidential discussion to find out more about you, your current circumstances and what you are looking for in a new role so we can match you with existing roles or place you in our file of ready to hire candidates.

 

You will be the first call we make when sourcing candidates for new roles.

 

While you are looking for a permanent role, we will place you on our temp register for short term placements for clients who need skilled, ready-to-start-tomorrow talent.

 

We will check in with you on a regular basis with words of encouragement and motivation, or to just listen.

How do you treat my personal information?

We are committed to protecting your privacy as a customer and an online visitor to our website. We use the information we collect about you to maximize the services that we provide to you. This may include communicating with you, providing technical support, notifying you of updates and offers, sharing useful content, measuring customer satisfaction, diagnosing problems and providing you with a personalised website experience. We do not and will not sell or deal in personal data or any customer information. We respect the privacy and confidentiality of the information provided by you and adhere to Australian Privacy Principles. Our privacy policy can be viewed in full on our website.