Regional Labour Demand
Regional job vacancies have continued to climb, reaching a new record of almost 93,000 advertised jobs in September 2022. This latest number of vacancies is 1.9 per cent more than in August, and 30.2 per cent higher than a year earlier. Regional job vacancy growth continues to grow while in the last month metro vacancies declined. And over the year, at 30.2 per cent regional vacancy growth has outpaced metro vacancy growth (28.6 per cent).
Regional New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland saw the largest increases in vacancies during the month. The top growth regions are scattered around South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland.
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 70 per cent. The only region where there were fewer vacancies in September 2022 than September 2021 is Dubbo and Western NSW (down by 15.3 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 September 2022 are:
- Yorke Peninsula & Clare Valley in SA with 7.1 % more vacancies in September 2022 (336) than in August 2022 (314)
- Gosford & Central Coast in NSW up by 5.3% (2,388 compared to 2,268)
- Tamworth and North West NSW up by 5.2% (1,532 compared to 1,456)
- Toowoomba and South West QLD up by 4.4% (2,756 compared to 2,639)
- Fleurieu Peninsula & Murray Mallee in SA up by 4.2% (1,143 compared to 1,097)
The five regions with the largest annual increases in vacancies between September 2021 and September 2022 are:
- Gosford & Central Coast in NSW up by 66.9%
- Geelong & Surf Coast in VIC up by 49.6%
- Newcastle & Hunter in NSW up by 42.8%
- Gold Coast in QLD up by 40.3%
- Blue Mountains, Bathurst & Central West NSW up by 40.2%
In terms of the occupations being demanded, the most vacancies are for Professional roles (25% of all vacancies in September), followed by Technicians and Trades roles (15%), Community and Personal Service roles (13%), and Clerical and Administrative roles (13%).
