In the latest edition of its Labour Market Update – July 2020, LinkedIn has found that July did show improvements in hiring activity, but also warned it would be short-lived, thanks to the second wave of infections across Victoria and the heightened perceived risk of the same happening across other states and territories.

Given all of the uncertainty, LinkedIn economists are predicting recovery “to be either flat or gradually declining in coming weeks”.

Based off the newest data, hiring has increased by 30 per cent since its lowest point in 2020, but is still down 10 per cent when compared with the same time last year.

The lack of new positions is what’s led to the heightened competition, which has seen competition for jobs nearly double in just eight months.

It’s also why LinkedIn has observed jobseekers as now more likely to apply for jobs in different industries than they previously would have.

Compared with pre-COVID, jobseekers across badly hit industries such as recreation and travel, and entertainment are “much more likely to apply to jobs outside their current industry”.

It was reported that jobseekers within recreation and travel are twice as likely (2.0 points), entertainment workers nearly twice as likely (1.8 points) and individuals within education one-and-a-half times as likely (1.5 points) to apply for new work outside of their current industry.

Commenting on the latest findings, LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand country manager Matt Tindale said, “There is no doubt that COVID-19 has hit the Australian economy hard, and while there are signs of recovery, we have to put it in context.”

“An unprecedented number of people have lost their jobs as a result of this pandemic, and it will likely take some time before we get back to the levels of growth and strength we saw before the pandemic hit,” he conceded.