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.