We aren’t completely in the clear yet from the financial crisis, but new employment data from job-search platform SEEK indicates the end might be in sight – at least for some sectors.
The company recently released its Employment Index for the 2014-2015 financial year, which tracks the supply and demand of open jobs and available candidates. The 2015 financial year closed with a 10.8 percent average increase in new job advertisements across various industries.
Michael Ilczynski, managing director of employment at SEEK, says the eastern seaboard states are to thank for this jump, particularly New South Wales and Victoria, which saw 19.3 per cent and 12 per cent more job ads respectively.
“The health of state labour markets is directly aligned to the overall economic health of the state,” he says. “These two states have a diverse economy, which has demonstrated strength over the past 12 months.”
Knowledge worker and service industries fared the best. Trades and services, industries that support real estate, government and defence, management, legal, healthcare and more saw at least some growth in the past year. Ilczynski says the increase in demand in these sectors can be attributed to Australia’s population growth and ageing population.
“We are seeing new job ads being created in those industries which are impacted by economic and social shifts,” he says. “This creates opportunity for employment as demand increases for people who have the skills to contribute to these industries.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, the mining, resources and energy sectors continued to take hits, and new job ads declined by 26 per cent from the previous year. Western Australia and South Australia depend heavily on mining, and as such have not been able to rebound as the country’s economy shifts into non-mining industries.
When the number of job openings outpaces the number of people actively searching for openings, it becomes a candidate’s market. So how can businesses make sure their job listings stand out from the crowd? Ilczynski says that position descriptions should focus on the non-monetary benefits of the role and their employee value proposition.
“The job ad needs to clearly explain what the benefit is to the candidate of working there,” he says. “This can be flexible working hours, learning and development opportunities, onsite parking, etc. These can all be – and often are – factors that draw a candidate in to apply for a role.”
Other factors that sway candidates are evidence of a great company culture, interesting ad layout and attractive job titles that are easy to search for on job boards.