The Australian Government regularly produces Labour Market Updates to provide information about issues affecting Australia’s current and emerging labour market.
This latest one reflects the state of the Australian labour market in the December quarter of 2022 and highlights:
· the recent overall strength of the Australian labour market
· variations in outcomes across industries, occupations and skill levels – including strong recent employment outcomes for occupations where VET qualifications are the primary pathway
· a slight easing in recruitment difficulty and an increase in the likelihood of employers filing an advertised role
· improved recent results across a number of indicators of wages growth
· updated analysis of the top 20 occupations in demand (both nationally and for each state and territory)
· preliminary analysis of the underlying drivers of skills shortage for the top 20 occupations in demand.
Labour market conditions were strong over the December 2022 quarter, with continuing strong demand and growth in labour supply. Total employment continued to increase over the December 2022 quarter with a small decline in January.
The importance of both the higher education and VET systems is reflected due to the needs of a highly skilled Australian workforce.
Compared with previous years, the likelihood of filling vacancies has declined, as have the average number of applicants and average number of suitable applicants per vacancy. These recruitment challenges are more acute for regional areas than for capital cities, while skills shortages for many technicians and trades workers occupations appear to be persistent.
Occupations with the highest vacancy rates are heavily concentrated around engineering and medical professions, mostly in regional areas.
Jobs and Skills Australia has also undertaken preliminary analysis of the underlying drivers of skills shortage for the top 20 occupations in demand, whether the shortage is primarily driven by a lack of people with the essential technical skills, or by other factors.
This preliminary analysis has found that of the top 20 occupations in demand, seven occupations have a shortage that is primarily driven by a lack of people with the essential technical skills.
These are the top 20 occupations in demand nationally.
Registered Nurses
Software and Applications Programmers
Aged and Disabled Carers
Child Carers
Construction Managers
Motor Mechanics
Retail Managers
Chefs
Generalist Medical Practitioners
Metal Fitters and Machinists
ICT Business and Systems Analysts
Civil Engineering Professionals
Electricians
Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers
Contract, Program and Project Administrators
Advertising and Marketing Professionals
Physiotherapists
Gardeners
Mining Engineers
Database and Systems Administrators, and ICT Security Specialists