Regional job vacancies continue to experience strong growth, reaching a new record high of more than 84,400 jobs in March 2022. This total is a 16.4 per cent increase on February, and 27.5 per cent more than a year earlier.
The top growth spots are scattered around Queensland and New South Wales.
The advertised vacancies in all regions but one 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 around 10 per cent to 60 per cent. The only region showing a smaller number of vacancies in Mar 2022 (1,362) compared with Mar 2021 (1,514) is Dubbo and Western NSW, a 10 per cent decline.
Regional Australia job vacancies
Source: National Skills Commission, Regional Australia Institute
The five regions recording the largest monthly increases in vacancies during March 2022 were in:
- Outback Queensland with 23.2 % more vacancies in March 2022 (835) than in February 2022 (678)
- Canberra & ACT up by 20.2% (8,053 compared to 6,697)
- Newcastle & Hunter up by 19.5% (6,269 compared to 5,245)
- Gold Coast up by 18.9% (6,768 compared to 5,690)
- Blue Mountains, Bathurst & Central West NSW up by 18.5% (2,277 compared to 1,921)
The five regions with the biggest jumps in vacancies in March 2022 compared with March 2021:
- Geelong & Surf Coast up by 60.6%
- Outback Queensland up by 55.9%
- Sunshine Coast up by 40.2%
- Ballarat and Central Highlands up by 37.7%
- Central Queensland up by 36.9%
In terms of the occupations being demanded, vacancies are largest for professional roles (24%) of all vacancies in March, followed by Technicians and Trades roles (16%), and Clerical and Administrative roles (14 %).
