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Job vacancies surpass pre-COVID levels
The Australian economy is continuing to show signs of improvement, with job vacancies skyrocketing over the last quarter, official figures have revealed.
Job vacancies surpass pre-COVID levels
The Australian economy is continuing to show signs of improvement, with job vacancies skyrocketing over the last quarter, official figures have revealed.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed that the number of job vacancies in Australia increased by 23 per cent over the November 2020 quarter. On an annual basis, job vacancies were 12 per cent higher than November 2019.
ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said job vacancies rose by 48,000 in the November 2020 quarter, following a sharp rise of 77,000 in August as the COVID-related restrictions were eased across Australia.
“There were 254,000 job vacancies in November, which was higher than the pre-COVID level in February,” Mr Jarvis explained.
“This reflected the pace of recovery in labour demand in the second half of the year and labour shortages in some industries,” he continued.
The stats revealed that, as restrictions eased, retail, arts and recreation services and accommodation and food services were the three main industries looking for staff.
Quarterly increases in vacancies were seen in all states and territories, with Victoria the only state where vacancies did not fall below its February level.
The rise in job vacancies across Australia comes after acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack said there was plenty of work, urging Australians on JobSeeker to move to regional areas.
Mr McCormack said there was in excess of 50,000 vacant jobs in regional Australia that needed to be filled.
“They aren’t just jobs picking fruits or in meat works, they are jobs in good endeavours that are certainly well paying,” he said on the Today program.
“It’s fun to pick fruit, it’s good and well paid to work in a meat works, and goodness knows we need them,” Mr McCormack said.
The minister also emphasised that “farms or meat works” aren’t the only work opportunities available to Aussies moving to the regions, despite encouraging them to look into the agriculture sector.
“There’s also jobs in doctor surgeries, there’s also jobs in accountancy, there’s jobs in tourism, and I say to those people who have perhaps done reasonably well off JobSeeker, it’s time to turn Stan and Netflix off. Come out to the regions and see you can have a better life,” Mr McCormack concluded.
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