Regional Labour Demand
After a slight dip in April, regional job vacancies climbed to a high of 91,000 advertised jobs in May 2023. This total is a 3.0 per cent increase on April, and 6.0 per cent higher than a year earlier. Three regions recorded the highest ever job vacancy numbers (Southern Highlands & Snowy in New South Wales, Wimmera & Western in Victoria, and Central Queensland). This profile of annual growth in regional Australia contrasts starkly with the situation in metro Australia, where job ads have declined by 8.0 per cent year-over-year.
Regional Australia Job Vacancies
Source: National Skills Commission, Regional Australia Institute
Every regional area reported monthly growth. Regional South Australia, Regional Queensland and the Northern Territory had the highest rates of vacancy growth from April to May. The top growth regions are scattered around Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales.
The annual change in vacancies exhibited a wider variation across all regions, ranging from a substantial increase of 35.3 per cent to a modest decrease of 6.6 per cent. In comparison, Sydney and Melbourne, the nation’s largest cities, witnessed the steepest annual declines at 15.1 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.
The five regions recording the biggest monthly increases in vacancies from April to May 2023 were:
- Outback Queensland with 7.2% more vacancies in May 2023 (781) than in April 2023 (728)
- Yorke Peninsula & Clare Valley up by 6.6% (352 compared to 330)
- Dubbo & Western NSW up by 6.2% (1,610 compared to 1,516)
- Southern Highlands & Snowy up by 5.7% (1,390 compared to 1,315)
- Port Augusta & Eyre Peninsula up by 4.8% (700 compared to 668)
The five regions with the biggest jumps in vacancies in May 2023 compared with May 2022 were:
- Yorke Peninsula & Clare Valley up by 35.3%
- Central Queensland up by 25.0%
- Toowoomba and South West QLD up by 22.7%
- Tamworth and North West NSW up by 20.9%
- North West Tasmania up by 19.8%
In terms of the occupations being demanded, vacancies are largest for Professional roles (28% of all vacancies in May), followed by Technicians and Trades roles (15%), Community and Personal Service roles (13%), and Clerical and Administrative roles (13%).
SOURCES The Internet Vacancy Index is updated monthly by the Department of Education Skills, Employment and Business (https://labourmarketinsights.gov.au/our-research/internet-vacancy-index/). 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).