Regional Labour Demand
After a slight dip in June, regional job vacancies climbed again to a record high of 86,900 advertised jobs in July 2022. This total is a 4.2 per cent increase on June, and 24.7 per cent higher than a year earlier. It should be noted that the growth is based on a 3-month rolling average of job ads, different from the seasonally adjusted national data released by National Skills Commission, which shows a small monthly national decline from June to July.
Regional South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia had the highest rates of vacancy growth from June to July. The top growth regions are scattered around New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
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 40 per cent. The only region where there were fewer vacancies in July 2022 than July 2021 is Dubbo and Western NSW (down by 21.4 per cent). This point-to-point comparison masks the fact that the region is coming off a peak in vacancies in late 2021.
The five regions recording monthly increases in vacancies from June to July 2022 were:
- Tamworth and North West NSW with 10.1% more vacancies in July 2022 (1,394) than in June 2022 (1,267)
- Yorke Peninsula & Clare Valley up by 9.7% (279 compared to 255)
- Fleurieu Peninsula & Murray Mallee up by 9.3% (1,019 compared to 932)
- Hobart & Southeast Tasmania up by 9.0% (2,196 compared to 2,016)
- South West WA up by 8.0% (1,584 compared to 1,467)
The five regions with the biggest jumps in vacancies in July 2022 compared with July 2021 were:
- Hobart & Southeast Tasmania up by 42.7%
- Geelong & Surf Coast up by 41.9%
- Outback Queensland up by 38.3%
- Central Queensland up by 37.0%
- Gosford & Central Coast up by 35.1%
In terms of the occupations being demanded, vacancies are largest for professional roles (25% of all vacancies in July), followed by Technicians and Trades roles (15%), and Clerical and Administrative roles (14 %).
