Australia - Labour Market Update (June 2020)

LinkedIn's Economic Graph is a digital representation of the global economy, and insights from the graph provide real-time information on trends that are emerging in the labour market. Last week, we published data showing material signs of hiring recovery. In this article, we will dive deeper into the Australian economy.

Hiring is stabilizing and showing early signs of recovery

This analysis looks at the year-on-year changes in hiring rate, which is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. The analysis was conducted for the period of 11th Feb to 5th June 2020.

Movement restrictions have been easing over the past few weeks, with businesses reopening and small social gatherings starting to resume. However, many of the country’s largest industries, like Construction, Tourism, and Education, may still be unable to operate at full capacity. We anticipate more recovery after the movement restrictions are fully lifted.

Job seekers are more likely to apply to jobs in a different industry

As the economy begins recovering and workers seek out new job opportunities, it is important to consider a broader set of job options. Compared to pre-COVID, we see that job seekers are now 1.4x more likely to apply to jobs in a different industry from their current one. 

Unsurprisingly, job seekers who are in industries that were badly hit (like Recreation & Travel) are much more likely to apply to jobs outside of their current industry. This is partly due also to fewer jobs being available in their current industry. In contrast, industries providing frontline services such as network infrastructure, healthcare, and delivery have seen more stickiness to remain in their current industry.

Increased applications to jobs outside of current industry:

• Recreation & Travel: 5.2x more likely to apply to jobs outside current industry
• Consumer Goods: 1.5x more likely to apply to jobs outside current industry
• Education: 1.4x more likely to apply to jobs outside current industry

Increased applications to jobs within the same industry:

• Hardware & Networking: 1.4x more likely to apply to jobs in same industry
• Health Care: 1.4x more likely to apply to jobs in same industry
• Transportation & Logistics: 1.4x more likely to apply to jobs in same industry

In Summary:

COVID-19 has hit the 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.

In the coming months, I will be sharing more updates to help everyone better understand these trends as they emerge.