New survey reveals recruitment activity rebounds as hiring difficulty rate declines
The proportion of employers planning to increase staff numbers in the next three months remained steady at 18% in July, but five percentage points lower than the same period last year.
According to Jobs and Skills Australia, only three per cent of employers are expecting to decrease staffing levels in the next three months, similar to the proportion in July 2023.
Its latest Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) found that expectations to increase staffing levels have been "variable" across metropolitan and regional areas in recent months.
"There was a slight decrease of two percentage points of employers in Capital Cities expecting to increase future staffing levels (17%)," read the agency's report. "In Rest of State areas, 18% of employers were expecting to increase future staffing levels over the next three months, up by two percentage points from June 2024."
The findings come after recruitment activity rebounded to 44% in July after a sharp decline in the previous month, according to the REOS.
Source: Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey
Employers said they recruited due to staff turnover (64%), to fill new positions (26%), or for both reasons (11%).
Meanwhile, nearly half of employers (47%) said recruitment was difficult in July, down by eight percentage points from the previous month, and 12 percentage points lower from the same period last year.
Source: Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey
"The recruitment difficulty rate decreased sharply over the month to a level not previously seen since early 2021, and remaining well below levels recorded a year ago," the REOS said. "This recent volatility should elicit some caution in interpretation of monthly results."
The REOS compiles the experiences of at least 1,000 employers in Australia over recruitment and plans to increase staffing levels.
