Victorian employment trends Sept 2020

Melbourne hiring confidence starting to build momentum

COVID cases continue to trend downward and Step 2 draws close

Across the country we have seen correlation between the reducing number of COVID cases and an increasing number of job ads. Melbourne businesses are expecting similar, though admittedly conservative, trends to emerge in October 2020. Victoria’s hiring market has demonstrated some resilience as they faced COVID lockdown 2.0; with less dramatic decreases in hiring activity than it experienced during the lock down in April this year.

“Employers have been better prepared and faster to adapt this time around. They have demonstrated the ability to implement innovative and creative solutions to problems their employees and businesses have faced during Stage 4 restrictions” observed Director of Dixon Appointments, Kathryn FitzGerald.

“As a Melbourne-owned recruitment business it has been very tough time for us and our partners, but it has certainly been heartwarming to see the best of the community as we fight this pandemic together. We have been pleasantly surprised to see more hiring and employment activity in the July-Sept quarter than we saw in April- June even through harsh lockdown restrictions ”, Dixon Appointments recording a 12% increase in vacancies listed to date in the September, with two weeks left in the quarter at time of writing.

Dixon Appointments has also tracked data regarding working from home arrangements, confirming that more than 89% of hiring activity within the professional and white collar market resulted in working from home arrangements, something Director Kathryn FitzGerald described as “unimaginable” prior to COVID.

Labour market data shows North Western suburbs hardest hit area of Melbourne

Unemployment has soared by almost 30% in Melbourne’s North Western region since January 2020 Unemployment data published by the ABS Labour force survey shows that an already high unemployment rate of 6.2% in January 2020 had grown to 8% by July 2020.  This is compared to Melbourne’s total unemployment rate across all regions increasing by 19% to 6.3% unemployment by July 2020, and Victoria’s total unemployment rate as a state increasing by 13.3% to 5.1% unemployment.

Even Melbourne’s the region with the lowest unemployment – the North Eastern suburbs – have experienced a dramatic change, moving from just 3.6% unemployment reported in January 2020 to 4.5% by July. Though this region can still boast Melbourne’s lowest unemployment figures, the change represents an increase of 25% over the seven month period.

National and regions data is available in a user-friendly interactive map and as downloadable excel data on the Labour Market Information Portal website.

SEEK Employment report confirms Victorians are continuing to weather the storm as lockdown continues

While businesses and the Victorian community are weathering Lockdown 2.0 with resilience and cautious optimism, job ads in Victoria continue to support the anecdotal market feedback that businesses are waiting in the wings while Stage 4 restrictions have been in play.

SEEK job ads saw almost 18% decrease in job ads from July to August confirms Victoria is the only state in Australia with less than 56% of the number of jobs advertised when compared to August last year. NSW saw some hints of recovery with a very modest increase in job ads from July to August, and only 30% behind the jobs advertised in August last year.