Human Resources Job Market Report

HR job ads rise 12% in October quarter

The HR job market took a positive turn in late 2024. This recovery helped offset the softening in demand seen during the first nine months of the year (down from the peaks experienced in 2023).

The Next Step HR Job Opportunities Index rose by 12% in the three months to October, up from the mid-year low point. While heading in the right direction, demand for HR is still 12.2% lower than this time last year. The latest improvement should give HR job seekers more confidence.

The growth this quarter was driven by expansion in permanent opportunities, which rose 14.6%. Contract opportunities also grew, though at a more modest pace.

The HR job market broadly follow Australia’s wider employment patterns. With national unemployment remaining low and steady (essentially offering ‘full employment’), Human Resources professionals are in demand to maximise organisations’ competitiveness in labour markets.

Human Resources Job Opportunities By Region

Mid-2024 marked a shift in the Human Resources jobs landscape, with Queensland overtaking Victoria’s opportunity numbers for the first time. Though Queensland retains its edge, Victoria has narrowed the gap to just 0.2% as its national share of opportunities rose to 21.7%.

New South Wales continues to dominate the national HR job market, but its share of job opportunities has fallen from 29.6% mid-year, to 28.8% in October. Queensland, despite a slight quarterly decrease, holds firm as the second-largest source of HR opportunities.

It could be said that Queensland’s performance reflects the robust resources sector, which faces distinct challenges. These include a limited experienced talent pool and roles that may require remote work or significant travel. As Australia’s largest export earner, potential trade tensions in 2025 could play a significant role in influencing ongoing demand.

Among the smaller regions, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania both grew their share of the market at the expense of South Australia.

"National organisations are increasingly open to having QLD-based HR positions. A strong mining sector activity complex state legislation is also fuelling demand in QLD, particularly for employee relations roles." Geraldine Doyle, QLD Director of The Next Step

Australia's HR job market

• Australian Capital Territory: Despite recent growth in HR hiring in the ACT, the increase appears modest given the shift toward insourcing roles as consulting budgets have been slashed.
• New South Wales: Positive signs for NSW. Despite reducing its national share, HR opportunities grew 8.9% over the last quarter, arresting the decline from early 2023 record highs.
• Northern Territory: Opportunities have flat-lined since January’s brief surge in demand. However, incredibly small vacancy volumes continue to affect NT Indexes reliability.
• South Australia: HR opportunities have softened 15.2% since their 2023 peak, tracking broader market trends. The state’s renewable energy focus means potential shifts in post-US election investment could have significant impact in 2025.
• Tasmania: TAS is finishing the year strongly. The Apple Isle currently boasts record-high demand for HR. However, Low volumes of HR job opportunities tend to make this Index volatile.
• Queensland: QLD continues to show job market stability, maintaining historically strong levels of demand. After mid-year softening, HR opportunities have risen by 12.2% in the last quarter.
• Victoria: Following significant softening through late 2023 and most of 2024, the VIC market has shown signs of recovery with an 18.7% increase in the last quarter.
• Western Australia: After dipping from record 2023 highs, WA has rebounded in recent months. Like QLD, potential trade tensions in 2025 could impact HR demand given the state’s resource focus.
  

Human Resources Job Opportunities by Industry

In 2024, Healthcare emerged as the leading sector for HR opportunities at 18.6%, closely followed by Public Administration at 17.5%. This healthcare dominance reflects sector corporatisation, an aging population and continued investment in mega programs like the NDIS.

Mining, Construction and Utilities, while giving up some of its market share, remains dominant with almost 10% of advertised vacancies. Another key player is Professional Services with 12.6% of the HR job market.

With university challenges and cuts to overseas students, it’s not surprising to see Education and Training trending down, only representing 4.5% of opportunities.

Manufacturing and Distribution has recovered market share, increasing from 6.3% to 7.8% over the past quarterly period.

HR job market by sector

• Education & Training: A budget-driven bump in HR demand at the start of FY25 has been erased as sector challenges drove a 46.8% decline in vacancies over 12 months. With projected falls in overseas student numbers impacting budgets, no recovery is expected soon.
• Financial & Insurance Services: With volatility throughout 2024, demand from the once-dominant Finance sector remains at historic lows. Opportunities have largely disappeared as turnover in HR roles, particularly leadership positions, have become almost non-existent.
• Health care & Social Assistance: After five quarters of post-COVID decline, demand has picked up again since the start of the new financial year. While this budget-driven surge has been significant, demand may well stabilise in the quarter ahead.
• Manufacturing & Distribution: Significant growth in HR opportunities over the past six months reversed earlier declines, returning near to early 2024 levels. This augurs well for a revitalised industrial sector in 2025 (trade wars aside).
• Mining, Construction & Utilities: Demand has been very volatile over the last six months. HR opportunities were extremely weak in June and August but picked up again in September and October.
• Professional, Scientific and Technical: Having fallen from post-pandemic record peaks, strong recovery for HR opportunities in Professional Services at the start of the financial year has been maintained which is good news.
• Public Administration & Safety: While HR opportunities rose 7.1% in the last period, contrasting dynamics are in play. Federally, insourcing roles from external consultants has driven a 30,000-person public sector boom. Meanwhile, some states face significant budget pressures, forcing hiring in the opposite direction.
• Retail & Wholesale: Despite being among Australia’s largest employers, the sector employs relatively few HR professionals. Data can be volatile and is significantly impacted by consumer sentiment pertaining to cost of living.

Human Resources Job Opportunities by Title

Unusually, all HR role categories moved more or less in lock step last quarter, with rises ranging from 9.6% to 18.7%.

HR Generalist and Talent Acquisition roles led the charge in terms of absolute numbers, while Workplace Relations saw the highest percentage growth at 18.7% (albeit on low volumes).

HR Management, after four straight quarterly declines, has seen a positive shift, with 13.9% quarterly growth. Learning and Development recorded the smallest increase at 9.6%. By most standards this was still a good performance but could possibly signal an end to the development-focused talent retention era.

After a challenging twelve months, Talent Acquisition now shows signs of growth. Demand increased by 12.1%, potentially signalling a rebound in this area as well. Overall, it’s been a strong quarter for the HR job market across all role types and specialisations. This is welcome news after a difficult year to date.



May 2024