Job ads falling but vacancies up? Apparently conflicting information poses the question of what’s really going on in the Australian employment market.
This week, Shortlist published an article[1] , summarising the ANZ finding that the number of job ads listed had overall stagnated since late 2015. The article reports a 1.2% fall in February, while an update from ANZ [2] states that for March, although online ads increased by 0.4%, the newspaper sector fell by 11.4%.
However, a previous article published by Shortlist just last week[3] , also states that job vacancies had increased according to data from the ABS.
So if job vacancies are increasing but job ads are remaining flat, where are these jobs going? The unemployment rate has also stayed down, at close to 5.75%.
With newspaper advertisements down and more employers turning to online listings such as Seek and Career One to post their ads, awareness of job vacancies is more accessible to a broader range of applicants than ever before. It’s not uncommon for a single ad to generate several hundred applications. And that is an enormous workload for anyone in a hiring position to sort through, meaning that the application process itself can be disengaging for the candidate, and secondarily result in wide spread pessimism and negativity about the job application process.
But leading organisations are also keen to retain their home-grown talent in a highly transitory job market. Many vacancies may be filled internally without ever making it to an ad listing, as staff seek growth and personal development with their existing employer. Recruiters also have a revitalised role in seeking out the top talent from amongst a tidal wave of applicants, filling positions before the ads even make it to market.
As much as some vacancies may be filled by internal movement, another potential reason for a flattening of job ads arises when, in the absence of organisational growth, not enough organisations are providing opportunities for either inter or intra organisational movement up and sideways. We’re still feeling the effects, however well Australia may have weathered the storm, of the GFC, with many older workers superannuation funds or private investments suffering. As those in senior positions hold on to their roles, the lack of opportunity for progression through the ranks creates a stagnation effect lower down. We’ll look at this in more detail in an upcoming article.
[1]https://www.shortlist.net.au/nl06_news_selected.php?selkey=50908
[2]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/job-ads-stagnate-but-unemployment-should-hold-steady-anz/7296780
[3]https://www.shortlist.net.au/nl06_news_selected.php?selkey=50816