Human Resources Job Market Report
Despite the 18-month-long cycle of increasing interest rates to curb economic growth, unemployment in Australia remains low. This is particularly impressive given a backdrop of record high immigration (circa 600,000 people in 12-months).
The crystal ball for overall employment in 2024 is somewhat clouded due to geopolitical and local factors. Despite this, certain segments of the HR job market will stay strong, while other parts of the People profession are already facing challenges.
The Next Step HR Job Opportunities Index: November 2023
Australia’s Human Resources profession continues to experience historically high levels of demand, although we are evidencing the national trend starting to soften.
The start of 2023 saw a mountainous surge in demand for HR professionals and The Next Step’s HR Job Opportunities National Index peaked at 181.9 in February. Since that seasonal spike, demand has settled back to the healthy circa 150 levels. To put this into context, at no stage in the 12 months prior to the pandemic period did the National Index exceed 118.7 (and for the most part it bumped around in the 100 +/-10 range).
Permanent and contract HR job opportunities are both tracking strongly. In past months, there has definitely been a resurgence in interest for on-demand contract and interim HR talent support, particularly in areas of specialised expertise such as Workplace Relations and Remuneration. Contract and interim roles are now almost 25% of all opportunities presented to the market.
After peaking in February, HR opportunities have returned close to where they were 2-years ago.*
HR Job Opportunities By Region
Like all markets, Queensland experienced high demand in early 2023, but unlike some regions, it has sustained this momentum throughout the year. Whether driven by increased demand, a shortage of talent, or a combination of both, opportunities in Queensland now constitute 21.7% of the national market, surpassing Victoria's 20.8%.
Human Resources Job Opportunities By Industry
A significant proportion of HR job opportunities (19.7%) can currently be found within Australia’s public sector.
The percentage of HR job opportunities within Health Care & Social Assistance has contracted heavily in the last two quarters. On the flipside, Mining and Public Administration now hold a larger proportion of current demand for HR professionals.
Overview of HR job opportunities by industry sector
- Education & Training: Demand for HR professionals remains well above pre-pandemic levels. Strong peaks were seen in February and June, but eased later in the year.
- Financial & Insurance Services: As banks announce record profits due to increased interest rates, the gloomy days of 2022 are now behind them and HR opportunities improved in 2023. Word is that 2024 may not be so rosy.
- Health care & Social Assistance: Following a record high in February, demand has eased, however HR professionals continue to enjoy strong job opportunities in this sector.
- Manufacturing & Distribution: HR job opportunities picked up in early 2023, but have eased since, dropping -9.3% in the past 3 months.
- Mining, Construction & Utilities: Even with a recent easing, the demand for HR professionals is still more than double what it was for the same period pre COVID.
- Professional, Scientific and Technical: The number of HR jobs being advertised within this sector has declined. We have now returned to pre-COVID levels of demand.
- Public Adminisration & Safety: A shift to move HR roles inhouse instead of using consultants has increased demand in some areas, but this is being countered by budget pressures elsewhere.
- Retail & Wholesale: This is one of the few sectors that, over the past 24 months, is not demonstrating historically strong HR demand.
Job Opportunities by Title
Most job opportunities within Human Resources are for generalist/consultant roles. While there was strong demand for these professionals in 2021 and 2022, it has notably decreased since peaking at an all-time high in February 2023 (down -16.8% in the past quarter). The softening of such a dominant part of the HR job market has had knock-on effects reflected in the regional and sector based Job Indexes.
Meanwhile, the workplace Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) job market has maintained its incredibly strong demand over the past 2 years.
Learning and Development job opportunities have remained stable and sit at historically high levels of demand.
“While the job market traditionally softens towards the end of the year, many employers are getting on the front foot with their recruitment to make sure they have the right people in place when 2024 begins.”
Lorainne Winterstein, Consultant
HR Employment Snapshot
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Author: Craig Mason Date published : 5/09/2023
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