The re-emergence

Q L D & W A M A R K E T

2020 has certainly been a year that none of us would have ever expected – and the impacts of the global pandemic have been seen vastly across the employment market over the year, Melissa Occhipinti writes.

Now that we are operating at our new ‘COVID normal’ , we are starting to see the job market re-emerge across the country. According to Seek’s latest data (October 2020), although job ad volume is 11.7% lower than 12 months ago, we have seen an increase of 8.5% in national jobs advertised month-on-month.

This is reflected in the Queensland market, where new job ads were up 1.5% year-on-year for the first time since the global pandemic began. Queensland job ads also grew by 6.9% month-on-month, demonstrating the resurgence of the employment market across the state. At Paxus, we have seen Developers, Business Analysts, Project Managers and Consultants in high demand in Queensland. Western Australia has followed suit, with month-on-month job ads increasing by 5.9%, which is very encouraging news. At 18.4%,

Western Australia has also had the second largest year-on-year increase in terms of job ad growth across the country, which is a strong indication that the Western Australian employment market is continuing to grow and stabilise. In terms of roles in demand, our Paxus Western Australian team have seen Desktop / PC Support, Developers, Business Analysts and Project Managers highly sought after.

Seek’s latest Employment Report identifies Trades and Services, followed by Healthcare and Medical, and Hospitality and Tourism as the industries contributing to the most job growth.

There are actually more jobs in the Trades and Services, and Healthcare and Medical sectors than this time last year, with an increase of 16.2% and 2.7% in new job ads respectively.

This can likely be attributed to the increased need for healthcare and medical professionals/equipment due to COVID, and the increased need for Trades and Services following the lifting of restrictions across the country.

The Queensland market has followed the national trend, with Trades and Services, and Healthcare and Medical accounting for the most advertised jobs in Queensland across seek.com.au in December 2020. These two sectors are followed by Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics.

The employment market in Western Australia tells a similar story, with Trades and Services, Mining and Resources, and Healthcare and Medical currently accounting for the majority of jobs across the state. This is also largely in line with the national trend.

Melissa Occhipinti is Regional Director Qld, WA, and NZ for Paxus and Director - APSCo Australia.