By Senior Economist, Diwa Hopkins
Regional job vacancies remained above the 70,000 mark in January, despite a 1.3 per cent decline during the month, in line with ordinary seasonal hiring patterns (advertised job vacancies tend to dip in January, and generally in the order of 3-5 per cent). The latest level of vacancies – more than 72,300 jobs – is 33 per cent more than a year earlier.
In previous months the top monthly growth spots were all in New South Wales and Victoria. This time round the top growth spots are scattered around Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.
While a majority of regions recorded a seasonal dip in vacancies in January, all regions have vacancies that are well in excess of what was being advertised a year earlier. The annual growth in vacancies in the various regions are in the double digits, ranging from 18 per cent to 63 per cent.
There were a number of regions that bucked the seasonal trend, recording monthly increases in vacancies during January 2022, the largest rises were in:
- Outback Queensland with 9% more vacancies in January 2022 (613) than in December 2021 (565)
- Yorke Peninsula and Clare Valley in South Australia up by 7% (251 compared to 235)
- South West Western Australia up by 4% (1,422 compared to 1,366)
- Goldfields and Southern WA up by 3% (2,108 compared with 2,046)
- Sunshine Coast up by 2% (3,266 compared with 3,191)
The five regions with the biggest jumps in vacancies in January 2022 compared with January 2021:
- Geelong & Surf Coast up by 63%
- Ballarat and Central Highlands up by 50%
- Sunshine Coast up by 47%
- Gippsland up by 44%
- Bendigo and High Country & Central Highlands up by 43%
In terms of the occupations being demanded, vacancies are largest for professional roles (25% of all vacancies in January, followed by Technicians and Trades roles (16%), and Clerical and Administrative roles (13 %).
SOURCES The Internet Vacancy Index is updated monthly by the Department of Education Skills, Employment and Business (lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/GainInsights/VacancyReport). The RAI has an interactive Regional Job Vacancy map of the data showing vacancies in 37 regions across Australia (regionalaustralia.org.au/home/regional-jobs-vacancy-map).