Skills shortage ‘now evident across all sectors’

Job ads rose to “near-record levels” in April, with employers still facing steep skills shortages across all sectors of the economy, new research has found.

According to the federal government’s internet vacancy index, during the month of April 2023, job advertisements jumped 3.6 per cent or 10,100 job advertisements to stand at 294,500 – the figure is 0.7 per cent higher than the same time last year.

Victoria saw the biggest jump in job ads (up 4.8 per cent), followed by Western Australia (up 4.4 per cent) and South Australia (8.2 per cent).

ASPL Group chief executive Kris Grant said the figures reflect employers facing greater skills shortages.

“The skills shortage is now evident across all sectors of the economy,” she said.

“We are seeing an acceleration in job advertising to near-record levels in Australia; the economy is still growing despite higher interest rates, and employers are still hiring, in sharp contrast to some mass layoffs were are seeing in the US.”

Ms Grant said employers need to look at effective strategies in order to combat skills shortages in-house.

“Many employers have not yet implemented strategies to combat a shortage of workers,” she explained.

“Some employers will need to look inwards and invest in their existing workforce to overcome skills gaps. A tight labour market amplifies the need to develop skills internally, and smart employers are investing in training existing employees to improve their supply of skilled labour, now and into the future.

“Importantly, many employers are also paying higher wages to attract and retain staff, and this trend towards higher wages is likely to remain in the months to come, given how low the jobless rate is.

“Other employers need to be more strategic about workforce planning to overcome skills gaps. All organisations need to assess what capabilities they have now, whether they can upskill their existing staff and identify and develop new skills or expertise they will need in the future to grow their organisations.”

The government research found advertising on internet job boards is the most common method of sourcing talent, with almost two-thirds of recruiting employers using this method in 2022. Meanwhile, nearly one-third of recruiting employers used word of mouth to promote their positions in 2022.

Social media has become an increasingly common tool when advertising roles, used by 25 per cent of recruiting employers in 2022.

Similarly, The Global Trends Report: State of Hiring Experience 2023 from HireVue found that 24 per cent of Australian job seekers are using Facebook to find work, with 25 per cent using LinkedIn.

Other social media platforms are being used for job hunting. HireVue’s data revealed that another 8 per cent are using Instagram, 6 per cent are using TikTok, and 4 per cent are using Twitter.