It’s official, more people are applying for fewer jobs

More people are applying for fewer jobs around the country, as advertisements fall and applications rise.

Seek’s latest Employment Report showed job advertisements on the website had fallen 0.8 per cent month on month in May, and 4.5 per cent year on year.

Meanwhile, applications per advertisement rose 3.6 per cent for the month and were 5.5 per cent higher than the same time last year.

“While the monthly decline is not especially sharp, it does suggest employers are continuing to act cautiously in the current environment,” Seek chief economist Dr Blair Chapman said.

The report also noted that AI was having an impact, with the decline in advertisements particularly weighted towards occupations with “high automation exposure”.

“Job ads in high exposure automation occupations, which includes roles in professional and consumer services, are declining,” Chapman said.

“It is unlikely that AI is directly replacing these jobs, but the inclination to do more with less, and general market hesitation due to macro global factors, are likely coming together to put a pause on new hiring for these types of roles.”

Read more

‘Careful what you wish for’: Dire warning to Victorians over new work from home rules

However, references to AI-related skills in job ads had risen 2.9 per cent month on month and a whopping 68.6 per cent year on year - though overall this still only comprised 1.9 per cent of advertisements on Seek.

Job trends did vary across the country, with Tasmania recording the only month-on-month increase in advertising, up 0.8 per cent in May.

And job ads in Western Australia, while not increasing in May, are still up 0.4 per cent on last year.

Applications, meanwhile, surged across the country but most significantly in Victoria and Queensland - each state recording a 6.8 per cent quarterly increase.

Different industries also recorded different results.

Advertising increased for jobs in engineering and science and technology (both up 2 per cent for the month), and for hospitality and tourism and legal (both up 0.1 per cent in May).

Engineering (up 16 per cent) and science and technology (up 7 per cent) job ads have also increased year on year, along with construction (7.8 per cent), mining resources and energy (5.6 per cent), and manufacturing transport and logistics ( 3.1 per cent).