SEEK Employment Snapshot - the road to recovery

This snapshot complements the SEEK Employment Trends report. SEEK will publish regular insights based on job ad movements compared to a baseline of April 2020.

The road to recovery across the labour market

Janet Faulding, General Manager SEEK NZ comments: “In the fortnight ended 17 May we saw an increase in job advertising of 52.0% compared to the average of the month of April. As Australia begins its long road to recovery, we are looking at comparing job ad volumes to April. We are using April as a baseline as we hope this is the low point for job ad numbers and we can use this as a comparison for how the employment market is progressing. It is important to remember that these figures are a long way shy of the pre-COVID volumes and there is a long road ahead.” 

“There are some promising signs with the majority of regions showing an increase in job ad volumes compared to April, suggesting we have turned a corner as long as we do not see a return of restrictions or a further outbreak. Canterbury (52.2%), Wellington (51.5%) and Auckland (+41.6%) are all showing the growth in job ad volume in the last two weeks.

Figure one: SEEK new job ads for 2020

Industry sectors

Sectors within Consumer Services have shown the biggest growth in the last two weeks with a 70.8% growth compared to the April average, making up 18% of the total jobs advertised on SEEK. Consumer Services includes Administration & Office Support, Hospitality and Tourism, Sales, Retail and Consumer Products, Real Estate and Property, Call Centre & Customer Service, Sport & Recreation and Advertising, Arts & Media sectors. 

Other sectors also showed positive growth, and include:  
•    Public Sector increasing 58.1% making up 23% of ads;
•    Construction increasing 51.1% making up 23%;
•    Industrial 45.9% making up 11% and;
•    Professional Services increasing 26% making up 10%.
 

Where the jobs are 

• Trades & Services: roles such as Building Trades, Labourers, Automotive Trades, Carpentry & Electricians
• Information & Communication Technology: Developers/ Programmers, Business/ Systems Analysts, Software Engineering, and Project Management 
• Healthcare & Medical: Psychology, Counselling & Social Work, Nursing (Aged Care and General Medical) and Physiotherapy 
• Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics: Warehousing, Storage & Distribution, Road Transport, Assembly & Process Work and Machine Operators
• Construction: Foreperson/ Supervisors, Project Management, Plant & Machinery Operators and Surveying

Figure two: Weeks 19 & 20 new job ad difference compared to April 2020 average 

Sectors with * are the top 10 sectors by job ad volume

Sector breakdowns:

• Consumer Services is comprised of Administration & Office Support, Hospitality and Tourism, Sales, Retail and Consumer Products, Real Estate and Property, Call Centre & Customer Service, Sport & Recreation and Advertising, Arts & Media
• Public Sector is comprised of Education & Training, Healthcare & Medical, Community Services & Development and Government & Defence
• Construction is comprised of Trades & Services, Construction, Engineering and Design and Architecture 
• Professional Services is comprised of Accounting, Human Resources & Recruitment, Marketing & Communications, Banking & Financial Services, Legal, Science & Technology, Consulting & Strategy, Information & Communication Technology and insurance & Superannuation 
• Industrial is comprised of Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics, Farming, Animals & Conservation and Mining, Resources & Energy.