Regional Labour Demand
Regional job vacancies have continued their overall trend run of growth, reaching a new record of more than 91,000 advertised jobs in August 2022. This latest number of vacancies is 3.7 per cent more than in July, and 30.8 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Moreover, the number of vacancies in June and July this year have been revised slightly higher by the National Skills Commission, after a review of processes for those months.
Tasmania, Regional South Australia and Western Australia had saw the largest increases in vacancies during the month. Across the regions, growth was highest around South Australia, Tasmania, and New South Wales.
Latest advertised vacancies are well in excess of what was being advertised a year earlier in all regions but one. 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 where there were fewer vacancies in August 2022 than August 2021 is Dubbo and Western NSW (down by 18.0 per cent).
Regional Australia job vacancies
Source: National Skills Commission, Regional Australia Institute
The five regions that recorded the largest monthly increases in vacancies in August 2022 are:
- Yorke Peninsula & Clare Valley in SA with 12.0 % more vacancies in August 2022 (314) than in July 2022 (280)
- Hobart & Southeast in Tasmania up by 8.7% (2,396 compared to 2,203)
- North West Tasmania up by 7.7% (688 compared to 639)
- Gosford & Central Coast in NSW up by 7.4% (2,268 compared to 2,112)
- Fleurieu Peninsula & Murray Mallee in SA up by 7.2% (1,097 compared to 1,023)
The five regions with the largest annual increases in vacancies between August 2021 and August 2022 are:
- Gosford & Central Coast in NSW up by 60.2%
- Geelong & Surf Coast in Victoria up by 49.8%
- Hobart & Southeast Tasmania up by 44.2%
- Gold Coast in Queensland up by 42.7%
- Sunshine Coast in Queensland up by 39.4%
In terms of the occupations being demanded, the most vacancies are for Professional roles (25% of all vacancies in August), followed by Technicians and Trades roles (15%), Community and Personal Service roles (13%), and Clerical and Administrative roles (13%).
