Recruitment industry body RCSA says its latest Job Index report shows a 0.6 per cent dip in job ads but the next three months will be critical in whether external pressures cause a more severe decline.
RCSA CEO Charles Cameron said Australia’s drop was meagre compared to New Zealand, where job postings fell 10.8 per cent in the last three months.
“Australia is holding firm, but the quarterly retraction suggests market confidence is waning,” Cameron said.
whether external pressures cause a more severe decline. (Source: RCSA)
While the historical data is positive, with the national index up 22.3 per cent on 2021, this latest minor decline is an indicator that unemployment could rise in the near future.
“The figures are promising but the slight drop does indicate that successive interest rate rises are finally starting to impact employment. Our members are telling us that the market does remain fairly balanced.
“We have actually seen permanent jobs rise 0.7 per cent in the last quarter,” Cameron said.
The index found demand for flexible workers had fallen five per cent and permanent job opportunities had risen slightly.
Cameron said this can mean a number of things.
“We know that historically employers tend to favour a flexible workforce when the economy is uncertain so that they can scale their operations up and down to respond to the market. We are not seeing this happen. Skills shortages could be a factor in bucking this trend. A lack of talent can motivate employers to lock in permanent staff,” he said.
When broken down into sectors, manufacturing and logistics roles are scarce, with the index reporting an 8.8 per cent decline, which could be an early indicator of issues ahead.
Retail also fell 1.4 per cent in the latest quarter. If retailers are holding back on forward orders, manufacturers will be feeling the pinch first. The immediate prospects in the retail sector are not encouraging if discretionary spending slows further, the report said.
Demand for technology professionals dropped by 2.3 per cent, the fourth consecutive quarterly fall. Year-on-year demand in the industry has fallen 25.4 per cent.
Opportunities for sales staff was “abundant”, RCSA said, with a cumulative rise of 26.7 per cent the highest across all occupation types.
“Our members are telling us venture capital firms and private equity Investors have been tightening their belts and funding is being withdrawn from projects without long term commercial value. Unfortunately, we are seeing a lot of contracts aren’t being renewed,” Cameron said.
A full breakdown of RCSA’s Job Report can be accessed here.
