Dean Davidson
The Q2 2015 Hudson Report: Employment Trends[1] has revealed a broadly positive outlook for the jobs market, with net intentions to hire remaining strong into the second quarter of the year.
Despite a slight dip from Q1 2015, the Hudson Report shows net hiring intentions remain at their highest level since 2012. According to Hudson, a net 17.1% of employers are looking to increase permanent staffing levels between April and June this year, compared to 18.7% in Q1and well up from just 11.2% one year ago. Moreover, while there has been a fall in sentiment in some locations, the report shows that net hiring intentions are still positive across all states.
“While the official unemployment rate has crept up recently and economic conditions remain challenging, our research reveals a transition in the labour markets, with weaker employment conditions in mining and resourcing offset by more positive conditions in industries such as professional services, IT and financial services,” said Dean Davidson, Executive General Manager, Hudson Australia.
A net 31.5% of employers and hiring managers in professional services are looking to hire in Q2 2015, 27.0% in IT, 25.2% in financial services/insurance.
“Employers in sectors such as these are hungry for the right talent to support structural transformation projects and underpin future business growth,” Mr Davidson said.
Victoria and NSW lead the charge
Employers in Victoria are leading the positive hiring intentions for permanent staff, with a net 21.9% looking to increase headcount in Q2 2015, up 2.2pp from Q1 and a significant 12.2pp from the same time last year.
“Confidence is clearly retuning to the Victorian market, likely aided by the settling of the state government and its clear policy setting and delivery mode. While we’re yet to see this confidence translate into real jobs activity, we are cautiously optimistic that the outlook has improved,” Mr Davidson said.
Meanwhile, NSW remains strong, largely as a result of growth in property and construction as well as ongoing change and transformation projects in financial services and legal, which continue to perform strongly. In NSW, a net 19.7% of employers intend to increase staffing levels in Q2 2015.
A period of transition
According to Hudson, resource states continue to face ongoing challenges.
“Various locations across Australia are still managing slowdowns in sectors such as mining and resources, and manufacturing,” said Mr Davidson.
“This reflects what we now know as the ‘new normal’ and part of the ongoing transition in Australia’s labour markets, with growth shifting away from mining to professional services, ICT, finance and legal across all states. This is obviously more challenging for some locations than others.”
Indeed, the challenge for traditionally resource driven states is clear, with Queensland and South Australia showing the weakest hiring intentions. A net 12.2% of employers are looking to hire in Q2 2015 in Queensland and 10.3% in South Australia, quarterly declines of 8.2 percentage points (pp) and 9.1pp respectively.
In South Australia, where the official unemployment rate is the highest in the nation at 6.9%, a number of high profile redundancy announcements in Q1have taken their toll on business confidence. Queensland has been hit by record low crude oil prices, driving some wide-spread redundancies. However, the timing of the survey coincided with changes to the Queensland state government, which likely caused some uncertainty and an additional softening of sentiment.
Legal professionals in hot demand
The legal profession remains a dominant force, with almost one in three employers (a net 30.9%) looking to increase their legal headcount in Q2 2015. Professionals in sales, marketing and communications are also in strong demand, with a net 26.6% of employers looking to increase permanent staffing numbers in these areas.
Meanwhile, the ICT profession continued to lead contracting hiring intentions, with a net 22.1% of businesses looking to hire in Q2 2015.
“ICT remains the leading source of contracting employment in Australia and an increasingly important component of business growth,” Mr Davidson said.
Despite the doom and gloom, employers remain quietly confident
While contradictory economic indicators continue to dominate headlines, Mr Davidson said he didn’t expect economic challenges to have a major impact on future hiring intentions.
“Regardless of the economic situation, organisations need to continue their transformation in order to be able to compete in the future. Many have already invested significant resources into these projects and aren’t in a position to halt this investment, and as such, we expect demand for specialised skillsets and roles that support future growth will continue to rise.”
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[1] Hudson surveyed 3,280 Australian employers about their hiring intentions for April to June 2015.
