SEEK’s November employment report shows decrease in job ads and applications from October 2022

SEEK has released its employment report for November. Compared to October 2022, job ads have fallen 4.9 per cent and applications went down 1.1 per cent.

However, ads are still 40 per cent higher than they were in November 2019, and job applications are 14.4 per cent higher than they were in November 2021 (yet they remain lower than pre-pandemic levels).

SEEK ANZ managing director Kendra Banks commented on the data: “Applications per job ad dropped slightly from the month prior, although web traffic to seek.com.au shows that there is still plenty of interest in what is available.”

She continued: “If the traditional seasonal trends are returning, which is something we haven’t seen for the past two years, then we can expect both employment demand and supply to remain quiet in December and January as businesses and candidates regroup ahead of the new working year.”

All states and territories saw a decrease in jobs advertised this month, except for the Northern Territory, which rose 0.5 per cent.

According to SEEK, hospitality and tourism was the worst affected industry, seeing job ads fall 13.5 per cent from October. Call centre and customer service was next, dropping 9.8 per cent, and marketing and communications was third, falling 9.5 per cent.

Ms Banks said: “Job ads volumes in hospitality and tourism have seen a lot of flux this year. After unprecedented demand leading to record-breaking numbers in June, this industry has led the decline over the past two months, indicating that businesses have reduced their hiring activity for summer.”

She added: “November 2021 saw job ads increasing significantly as businesses in Victoria and New South Wales scaled back up after lockdowns and in preparation for a restriction-free summer season. This year, hiring activity is slowing down, which is the trend that we would expect at this time of year.”

The two industries listed that saw an increase in job ads from October were insurance and superannuation, increasing 2.6 per cent, and government and defence, rising 1.3 per cent.

In November, HR Leader discussed the rising job applications reported by SEEK in their October report. While they were rising at the time, we have now seen a slight drop, indicating a potential turnaround. November saw the end of job applications rising as they had for four consecutive months.

Cornerstone OnDemand’s head of APJ, Paul Broughton, said to HR Leader back in November that it is a good time for companies to address unconscious bias.

“Unconscious bias should be an essential area for training across any company’s L&D strategy. Giving all employees the tools to recognise DEI issues through unconscious bias training, results in a fair assessment of job applications, even when the volume of applicants increases,” said Mr Broughton.