Is candidate power beginning to fade?

According to a recent report, candidates still have the upper hand in the job market. This could change, however, as hiring activity has slowed and candidate activity continues to increase.

SEEK’s latest employment report for January 2023 highlighted that job advertisements increased by 2.8 per cent in January, the first time we’ve seen a monthly increase since May 2022.

While this is a good sign for job hunters, job advertisements are still down 8.1 per cent from January 2022, showing a gradual slowdown.

“With all eyes on the global economy, and uncertainty around what 2023 will bring for Australians, hiring activity has stabilised in January and candidate activity continues to grow,” said SEEK ANZ managing director Kendra Banks.

“Advertising volumes have reverted to November levels after falling marginally in December. While 2.8 per cent seems a small increase in volume after seven months of decline, job ad levels remain above pre-pandemic levels for the majority of industries.

“For our largest hiring industries by volume, for example, job ads remain over 55 per cent higher.”

Job advertisements are still higher than pre-pandemic levels, however, as there are 26.3 per cent more than in January 2019, proving that talent still has the upper hand.

Applications per job advertisement are continuing to climb, rising 9.2 per cent in January. This is the seventh month in a row that has seen an increase, with figures 35.5 per cent higher than January 2022.

Ms Banks continued: “More Australians have been taking the opportunity to investigate their career options, with both visitation to seek.com.au and applications per job ad jumping month-on-month.

“This rise in applications per job ad is partly a result of the drop in job ads in December, but is also caused by increased candidate activity, as more Australians begin to make career moves.”

Job applications are still 9.5 per cent lower than they were before COVID-19.

Across Australia, all states and territories saw an increase in job advertisements. Tasmania saw the biggest jump, with January experiencing an 8.5 per cent rise. According to SEEK, this was made possible by a 33 per cent increase in hospitality and tourism job advertisements.

NSW and Queensland saw a 2.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent increase, respectively.

The top three industries that saw job advertisement increases were design and architecture (11 per cent), consulting and strategy (8 per cent), and accounting (8 per cent).

The industries listed by SEEK that saw a decrease in job advertisements were advertising, arts and media (down 2 per cent), mining, resources and energy (down 1 per cent), healthcare and medical (down 0.3 per cent), and education and training (down 0.2 per cent).