Job Vacancies, Australia

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Results of the quarterly Job Vacancies Survey containing estimates of job vacancies classified by industry, sector and state/territory.

Reference period
May 2023
Released
29/06/2023

Key statistics

Seasonally adjusted estimates for May 2023:

  • Total job vacancies were 431,600, a decrease of 2.0% from February 2023.
  • Private sector vacancies were 384,600, a decrease of 2.3% from February 2023.
  • Public sector vacancies were 47,000, an increase of 0.3% from February 2023.
Job vacancies, public and private sector
 May-2023Quarterly ChangeAnnual Change
'000%%
TrendPrivate sector385.0-2.6-4.5
Public sector47.20.413.8
Private and public sectors432.2-2.2-2.8
Seasonally AdjustedPrivate sector384.6-2.3-12.2
Public sector47.00.314.1
Private and public sectors431.6-2.0-10.0
OriginalPrivate sector367.7-7.3-12.4
Public sector47.13.114.1
Private and public sectors414.8-6.2-10.0

Survey impacts and changes

Reinstating trend estimates

Commencing with this issue, the ABS has reinstated Job Vacancies trend estimates (including for the entire COVID-19 period in the spreadsheets) and reverted to concurrent seasonal adjustment. However, the key figures and graphs in the Job Vacancies release will continue to focus on seasonally adjusted estimates. This will be reviewed for future releases. For further information, see Seasonal adjustment and trend estimates below.

Seasonal adjustment and trend estimates

Other measures of labour demand

New approach for estimating the contribution of micro-employers

Job vacancies over time

Job vacancies decreased by 2.0% (9,000 vacancies) in the three months to May 2023 (seasonally adjusted). The decline in job vacancies this quarter was driven by Accommodation and food services. Despite this being the fourth consecutive quarterly decrease, the level of job vacancies in May 2023 remained elevated. Job vacancies were 89.3% higher than they were in February 2020, prior to the start of the pandemic. The ongoing high level of vacancies reflected the continuing labour shortages in most industries.

The Job Vacancies Survey was suspended between August 2008 to August 2009 (inclusive). 

Businesses reporting vacancies

The number of businesses reporting at least one vacancy shows the extent of the acute reduction in labour demand in May 2020, as well as the subsequent change since then. In February 2020, just prior to the main effects of COVID-19, the proportion of businesses reporting at least one vacancy was 11.0%. In May 2020, a much lower proportion of businesses reported at least one vacancy (6.5%). By November 2022, this had increased to 27.7%. In line with the decrease in the number of vacancies, the proportion of businesses reporting at least one vacancy also decreased to 24.3% in February 2023 but increased slightly to 24.7% in May 2023.

Proportion of businesses reporting vacancies, states and territories (%)
 May-21Aug-21Nov-21Feb-22May-22Aug-22Nov-22Feb-23May-23
New South Wales22.919.422.324.226.228.928.027.426.5
Victoria22.018.821.222.927.327.129.225.424.7
Queensland22.626.920.026.022.826.728.322.625.4
South Australia15.613.114.717.617.319.718.416.019.4
Western Australia21.721.519.522.428.325.229.421.623.1
Tasmania21.815.118.519.219.114.022.015.614.5
Northern Territory26.520.823.127.831.636.535.626.423.4
Australian Capital Territory13.89.413.416.613.715.513.716.017.1
Australia22.020.320.723.525.226.727.724.324.7
Proportion of businesses reporting vacancies, industry (%)
 May-21Aug-21Nov-21Feb-22May-22Aug-22Nov-22Feb-23May-23
Mining11.018.117.127.824.819.327.126.026.4
Manufacturing15.122.924.929.622.325.923.826.816.8
Electricity, gas, water and waste services12.89.921.339.234.513.131.025.236.7
Construction26.923.321.524.330.328.528.524.223.6
Wholesale trade23.622.320.529.516.826.119.923.422.9
Retail trade21.621.415.916.617.723.831.523.021.7
Accommodation and food services30.518.330.932.434.042.545.341.735.5
Transport, postal and warehousing22.015.717.322.422.625.821.516.621.3
Information media and telecommunications20.015.915.519.826.720.429.021.421.3
Financial and insurance services20.510.35.514.820.08.221.77.411.8
Rental, hiring and real estate services16.919.315.120.125.227.326.113.913.0
Professional, scientific and technical services16.415.416.617.618.019.424.819.622.2
Administrative and support services23.629.830.536.238.332.836.826.734.0
Public administration and safety42.229.827.533.537.937.435.043.332.0
Education and training11.59.79.19.914.68.37.728.928.7
Health care and social assistance23.321.226.718.926.733.417.530.829.5
Arts and recreation services14.09.36.78.310.24.79.318.622.7
Other services22.828.125.432.732.734.436.725.331.1
All industries22.020.320.723.525.226.727.724.324.7
Reasons for vacancies (%)
 May-21Aug-21Nov-21Feb-22May-22Aug-22Nov-22Feb-23May-23
Replacement/resignations76.075.177.479.780.478.277.179.677.6
Increased workload45.442.345.947.847.045.444.044.039.7
Expansion of business26.825.325.725.927.827.825.626.726.4
Restructure14.315.713.813.914.413.212.813.714.5
Relocation0.70.80.51.00.70.90.91.10.5
Seasonal10.011.419.012.011.614.118.112.311.4
Special event2.12.52.42.11.91.82.21.81.8
Takeover1.41.41.62.01.01.51.82.01.6
Other10.311.812.012.98.67.16.49.88.2

Businesses may have multiple reasons for reporting job vacancies
Proportions are of businesses that reported at least one vacancy

States and territories

Change in job vacancies, states and territories (%)
 NSWVicQldSAWATasNTACTAustraliaAustralia (Seasonally adjusted)Australia (Trend)
Change from previous quarter
Feb-227.5-4.09.43.19.27.636.615.95.54.64.9
May-2211.618.02.20.0-1.92.8-8.77.58.013.04.3
Aug-223.95.49.13.1-6.8-16.6-1.3-2.93.0-4.32.2
Nov-22-11.8-7.0-0.10.41.912.8-1.72.0-5.2-1.6-0.7
Feb-239.0-5.9-0.8-9.4-14.88.4-8.4-5.8-1.8-2.4-1.9
May-23-11.7-5.1-9.38.74.0-7.6-8.3-1.1-6.2-2.0-2.2
Change from corresponding quarter of previous year
May-21183.5205.1166.5213.3174.7250.0192.9144.9185.5186.730.7
May-2228.737.116.914.641.116.553.340.829.729.944.2
May-23-11.7-12.5-2.02.0-15.8-5.8-18.5-7.7-10.0-10.0-2.8

Data refers to original series unless otherwise stated

Private sector

Change in job vacancies, private sector (%)
 NSWVicQldSAWATasNTACTAustraliaAustralia (Seasonally adjusted)Australia (Trend)
Change from previous quarter
Feb-226.9-3.99.14.89.915.137.410.55.44.14.4
May-2211.418.21.90.3-2.72.7-12.33.47.713.43.7
Aug-223.05.08.92.1-7.0-18.11.5-14.52.3-5.61.6
Nov-22-13.7-7.4-1.0-0.41.312.1-2.87.8-6.1-2.3-1.2
Feb-2310.8-7.8-0.4-11.2-14.19.2-8.72.7-1.6-2.6-2.3
May-23-13.3-7.4-8.69.43.3-9.6-13.32.4-7.3-2.3-2.6
Change from corresponding quarter of previous year
May-21207.1233.4174.0260.8180.7276.4230.3163.6205.0205.632.1
May-2228.736.915.017.040.814.751.232.029.129.344.6
May-23-14.7-17.0-1.8-1.2-16.4-9.4-21.9-3.1-12.4-12.2-4.5

Data refers to original series unless otherwise stated

Public sector

Change in job vacancies, public sector (%)
 NSWVicQldSAWATasNTACTAustraliaAustralia (Seasonally adjusted)Australia (Trend)
Change from previous quarter
Feb-2215.2-4.612.1-9.1-0.5-30.431.934.66.49.99.9
May-2214.315.45.4-2.211.43.811.219.211.78.69.9
Aug-2213.310.511.411.3-4.4-3.9-13.526.010.29.17.5
Nov-226.6-3.010.06.810.917.54.0-7.84.14.73.8
Feb-23-4.814.7-5.74.3-23.62.7-7.2-22.7-3.5-0.41.6
May-232.914.7-17.14.614.47.414.7-10.13.10.30.4
Change from corresponding quarter of previous year
May-2159.350.492.460.9109.1107.792.8100.069.569.518.6
May-2227.839.944.1-2.746.033.962.968.536.036.039.7
May-2318.441.0-4.229.6-7.324.5-4.3-19.214.114.113.8

Data refers to original series unless otherwise stated

Industry

Job vacancies, industry, original ('000)
 Feb-22May-22Aug-22Nov-22Feb-23May-23
Mining10.611.210.69.810.611.7
Manufacturing30.628.928.325.925.122.6
Electricity, gas, water and waste services4.04.24.44.54.54.9
Construction35.239.933.529.931.233.1
Wholesale trade21.719.220.516.616.515.3
Retail trade29.140.346.149.936.432.2
Accommodation and food services46.151.959.156.357.842.5
Transport, postal and warehousing14.715.217.715.414.613.4
Information media and telecommunications4.55.35.44.33.63.8
Financial and insurance services18.120.218.616.814.913.4
Rental, hiring and real estate services9.39.710.19.45.95.5
Professional, scientific and technical services42.142.944.140.847.644.7
Administrative and support services40.638.238.041.338.437.5
Public administration and safety21.524.127.530.126.422.9
Education and training11.612.711.211.113.515.9
Health care and social assistance60.268.974.362.772.472.9
Arts and recreation services6.27.26.67.86.66.5
Other services20.721.118.818.016.516.1

Data Downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6354.0.

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