The jobs and states enjoying a jobs BOOM despite the looming recession – and the trades where people will struggle to find work
- Jobs site Seek reported a 49.2 per cent increase in advertised positions in May
- Hospital and tourism jobs surprisingly surged by 239 per cent despite COVID-19
- Queensland had overall 62.5 per cent job ads rise despite state border closure
- Insurance, superannuation, mining job advertisements plunged last month
Hospitality and tourism workers are in high demand despite state border closures and a looming recession.
Job ads site Seek has revealed where the available work is, amid government forecasts of double-digit unemployment in 2020 for the first time since the early 1990s.
In the final fortnight of May, the number of advertised positions surged nationally by 49.2 per cent compared with April.
Queensland had the biggest job ads increase of 62.5 per cent, followed by Tasmania on 62.2 per cent and South Australia on 59.1 per cent even though those states remain closed to the rest of Australia.
The Australian Capital Territory covering Canberra posted the smallest job ads increase of 23.9 per cent in a city where the public service is the main employer.
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With coronavirus restrictions last month eased, demand for hospitality and tourism staff soared in May by 239 per cent across Australia, Seek job ads data showed. New South Wales (Sydney's Pyrmont Hotel, pictured on June 1, 2020) had an even bigger 276 per cent increase in a state where the borders have remained open to the rest of Australia
Hospitality and tourism
With coronavirus restrictions eased last month, demand for hospitality and tourism staff soared by 238.5 per cent across Australia.
New South Wales had an even bigger 276 per cent increase in a state where the borders have remained open to the rest of Australia.
Victoria, an equally open state, enjoyed a similar 255 per cent increase.
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Interestingly, Western Australia saw a 186 per cent increase in demand for hospital and tourism workers, despite its state border remaining closed.
Sales
Nationally, the number of advertised jobs for sales staff surged by 166.5 per cent in May, with Victoria enjoying an even bigger 172 per cent increase.
Jobs associated with retail and consumer products rose by 140 per cent Australia-wide.
Advertised positions in the education and training area rose by 125.1 per cent. NSW saw an even bigger increase of 169 per cent, in a state that has reopened its classrooms. Pictured is a teacher with pupils at Homebush West Public School in Sydney's west on May 25, 2020
This occurred despite a record 17.7 per cent plunge in retail sales during April, which followed a record 8.5 per cent spike in March during the early stages of the coronavirus lockdowns.
Trades and services
Demand also rose for someone to fix something around the home with trades and services jobs up by 76 per cent.
Queensland saw an even bigger increase of 98 per cent, with Victoria also having an above-average increase of 92 per cent.
Education and training
Advertised positions in the education and training area rose by 125.1 per cent.
NSW saw an even bigger increase of 169 per cent, in a state that has reopened its classrooms.
Looming recession
With a recession on the economic horizon, for the first time in almost three decade, not all jobs saw in increase in demand.
Insurance and superannuation job ads plunged by 10.3 per cent in May while mining, resources and energy jobs fell by 1.3 per cent.
Mining-rich Western Australia, the home of lucrative iron ore exports to China, saw its overall job ads rise by a weaker-than-average 43.6 per cent.
WA is more exposed to China, Australia's biggest export market for iron ore.
In April, Australian iron ore exports fell by $1billion as overall goods exports dropped by 3.5 per cent, Australian Bureau of Statistics international trade data released on Thursday showed.
A reduction in export volumes saw a 1.3 per cent fall in the number of mining, resources and energy job advertisements in May. Pictured is a Rio Tinto haulage truck in Western Australia's Pilbara region
Seek managing director Kendra Banks said it was still too early to declare a coronavirus recovery in the labour market.
'As we head into June, we traditionally see a slowing of job ad posting due to the end of the financial year with a boost in July and August when budgets are reset,' she said.
'It will be interesting to see if the easing of restrictions, the economic measures put in place by the government and the new financial year translates to more jobs advertised in July.'
Australia's economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter, marking the first contraction since early 2011, as a result of the summer bushfires and the COVID-19 restrictions.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Wednesday confirmed Australia's economy was likely to already be in recession, something that hasn't occurred since 1991, with the official national accounts data for the June quarter likely to also show a gross domestic product contraction.
His Treasury department and the Reserve Bank of Australia are both forecasting a 10 per cent jobless rate by the end of June, a level unseen since April 1994.
The national unemployment rate soared from 5.2 per cent in March to a five-year high of 6.2 per cent in April, as 489,800 people left the labour market in despair as another 104,500 people joined the ranks of the officially unemployed.
This occurred as state governments closed non-essential businesses, from pubs and clubs to gyms and cinemas, in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Insurance and superannuation job ads plunged by 10.3 per cent in May. Pictured is a stock image
In the final fortnight of May, the number of advertised positions surged nationally by 49.2 per cent compared with April
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