SEEK: Job Ad Growth Bucks Seasonal Slowdown Trend

The latest SEEK employment report notes that “November saw a second consecutive month of record-breaking job ad numbers, with 1.1% more ads than in October, particularly in the Hospitality & Tourism, Trades & Services and Healthcare & Medical industries. When compared to November 2020, which recorded job ads at pre-pandemic levels for the first time that year, job ads have grown 50% Y/Y and 51.8% compared to November 2019.”

• “Even a nominal 1.1% increase in job ads speaks volumes about the state of the market, with the lead-up to Christmas traditionally a time where businesses scale back on talent hiring. Instead, we had more job ads on our site than ever before. While not all states and territories experienced an increase in job ads from October to November, demand across the nation remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. Applications per job ad continued to decline this month, down 9.4% on October, demonstrating that while hirers are bucking the usual Christmas slowdown trend, talent may be holding off until the new year.”
• “We are also still seeing interest from candidates monitoring the market, indicated by traffic volume to the site remaining steady month to month, however applications per job ad are low and decreasing, which is not unusual for this time of year as people tend to halt their transition aspirations leading into Christmas. The new year traditionally brings an uplift in candidates applying for new jobs and with SEEK research showing that 31% of Australians are looking to change jobs in the next six months, we would expect to see an increase in applications in early 2022.”
• “A decline in job ads was recorded only in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, however job ads in both areas are still higher than pre-pandemic levels and both have seen their highest number of job ads in 2021.”