Current State of the Employment Market in Australia
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that the unemployment rate in Australia was 3.7% in March 2023, which is a slight increase from the previous month but continues to hold steady. While the unemployment rate has increased slightly, reflecting a cooling of the market since the highs of 2021-2022, we continue to operate in record breaking times in terms of employment and recruitment.
There remains an ongoing critical skills shortage, particularly in certain industries such as healthcare, education, mining, transport, manufacturing and construction. This has been driven in part by ongoing border closures which have restricted the availability of international workers for several years. As a result, there are many job vacancies that are not being filled, which is impacting business operations and placing additional strain on the nations employers. Job vacancies remain well above levels seen this time in 2019, before the pandemic. This indicates a strong employment market with employers desperately trying to fill vacant positions despite the rising unemployment rate and increased uncertainty.
We expect the unemployment rate to steadily rise over the course of the year as the jobs market cools and migration returns to normal levels. However, we expect to see a continued demand for talent at short notice in areas set to experience record increases in investment such as Manufacturing, Mining and Energy.