VET News

Job Vacancies and Recruitment Continue to Increase

Preliminary results for the recently released National Skills Commission’s Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) show online job advertisements increased by 1.9% (or 4,500 advertisements) in May 2021 to stand at 245,400. 

This represents the 13^th consecutive month-on-month increase in job advertisements, which is 163.9% (or 152,400 advertisements) above the level recorded in May 2020.

The growth observed by the series over the month again sets a new 12-year high for recruitment activity nationally, with job advertisements at their highest level since the 251,000 job advertisements recorded in October 2008.

The detailed release of the IVI, including occupational, regional and skill level data, will be available on Wednesday 23 June 2021.

Additionally, 51% of employers surveyed in May 2021 as part of the Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey were recruiting or had recruited in the past month, a 2 percentage point increase on April 2021.

The proportion of employers expecting to increase staffing levels dropped slightly but remain relatively strong, with 21% of employers surveyed expecting to increase their staffing levels in the next 3 months.

The March quarter 2021 Small Area Labour Markets (SALM) estimates are now available through the National Skills Commission's Labour Market Information Portal.  SALM presents estimates of unemployment and the unemployment rate at the Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and Local Government Area (LGA) levels.

The March quarter estimates show that more than four in five SA2s recorded an increase in their unemployment rate over the year, the largest proportion since the start of the series. As shown in the above chart, in each jurisdiction, with the exception of the Northern Territory, more than three quarters of SA2s have recorded a rise in their unemployment rate over the past year.

Despite a challenging 12 months for small business, recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows almost 1 in 5 small businesses expect to hire new staff in coming months.

The Australian Government has launched the Employment Contract Tool.  The tool is freely available for businesses whereby employers can use the tool to build a tailored employment contract for a new staff member which aligns with Australia's Fair Work system.

The Employment Contract Tool:

• steps employers through a series of simple questions
• recommends clauses that cover employee pay and conditions
• includes options for added protections for the business, such as intellectual property or conflict of interest clauses, and
• generates a downloadable letter of offer and employment contract for the new employee.

The Employment Contract Tool is available on business.gov.au.

For further information access the National Skills Commission media releases below:

• Decade high internet job advertisements continue through May 2021 - National Skills Commission
• New insights into employers' recruitment experiences - National Skills Commission
• Small Area Labour Markets - March quarter 2021 data - National Skills Commission
• New online tool makes hiring process simpler for small business - Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

Date posted Jun 17, 2021