Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry, February 2022

Updated chart pack

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Released
24/03/2022
Source
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, February 2022

This article includes information on casual employment, occupation and industry. It follows previous similar articles during the COVID period, including Insights into Industry and Occupation (in May 2020), Insights into casual employment, occupation and industry (in November 2020) and Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry (in May 2021, August 2021 and November 2021). These can all be found in the Labour Force, Australia article archive, under Employment and jobs.   

The main indicator the ABS uses for casual employment is whether an employee is entitled to paid leave, which includes paid sick leave or paid annual leave. These entitlements are usually reserved for non-casual or permanent employment. Other measures of casual employment can be found in Working Arrangements.

Information in this article refers to a person’s ‘main job’, based on questions that are asked in the Labour Force Survey in February, May, August and November.

Hours worked by casual employees

Chart 1 compares the change in hours worked for casual employees (i.e. those without paid leave entitlements), non-casual employees (i.e. those with paid leave entitlements) and owner managers, indexed to February 2020. It shows that during periods with lockdowns and restrictions the hours of casual employees, and to a lesser extent owner managers, were particularly impacted.

The index shows the hours worked by casual employees returned to pre-pandemic levels in February 2022, after large declines in the May 2020 and August 2021 quarters.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Chart 2 compares the change in employment for casual employees, non-casual employees and owner managers, indexed to February 2020.

While hours worked for casuals had returned to pre-pandemic levels, the number employed people working as casuals continued to be below February 2020. In contrast, employees with paid leave entitlements and owner managers both reached pre-pandemic levels a year ago.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Chart 3 shows the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions on the working hours of casual employees.

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Charts 3a, 3b and 3c show the impact of COVID-19 on the hours worked by casual employees in some industries that have been particularly impacted during the COVID period - Retail trade, Accommodation and food services, and Arts and recreation services.

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ05

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ05

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ05

Chart 4 shows the total weekly hours worked by casual employees across different weekly hours worked categories.

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Occupation

Chart 5a shows changes in employment and average hours worked in each of the major groups of occupations between February 2020 and February 2022. 

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 12

Chart 5b shows changes in employment and average hours worked in each of the major groups of occupations between November 2021 to February 2022. 

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 12

Chart 6 shows, for people employed in each occupation in November 2021, the proportion who were:

  • still employed in the same occupation in February 2022;
  • still employed in February 2022 but in a different occupation; or
  • no longer employed in February 2022.

Source: Longitudinal Labour Force Microdata

Industry

Chart 7a shows changes in employment and average hours worked in each of the industry divisions between February 2020 and February 2022.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 4 and Table 11

Chart 7b shows changes in employment and average hours worked in each of the industry divisions between November 2021 and February 2022.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 4 and Table 11

Chart 8 shows the proportion of people who worked zero hours for November 2021 and February 2022.  

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 11

Chart 9 shows, for people employed in each industry in November 2021, the proportion who were:

  • still employed in the same industry in February 2022;
  • still employed in February 2022 but in a different industry; or
  • no longer employed in February 2022.

Source: Longitudinal Labour Force Microdata