Employers across Australia were less likely to be recruiting in the second quarter compared with the first quarter of this year. There was a slight increase in recruitment difficulty in the latest quarter — both indicators are down from the June quarter 2023, according to Jobs and Skills Australia’s Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) June quarter 2024 report.
Recruitment activity is strongest in the territories. The Northern Territory’s recruitment rate was 70% in the June quarter 2024, while the ACT had the second highest recruitment rate at 51% 1. Of the states, Queensland and Western Australia recorded the equal highest recruitment rates, at 48%. Recruitment activity is considerably weaker in Victoria which recorded the lowest recruitment rate in the June quarter 2024, with 42% of employers recruiting staff.
Employers had the most difficulty recruiting staff in Tasmania at 61%, while both New South Wales, and Victoria, were at 58%. All states and territories have now seen significant decreases in recruitment difficulty over the year.The ACT and Queensland were standouts, both with rates now 13 percentage points lower than the June quarter 2023.
Employers in Capital Cities are less likely to be recruiting than those in regional areas. The recruitment rate in major cities was 43% in the June quarter 2024, well below the 52% recorded in inner regional Australia. Over the last year, the recruitment rate has decreased in all areas, with the largest annual decrease recorded for outer regional, remote, and very remote Australia which were down by 10 percentage points to 47%.
In the June quarter 2024, employers in country areas continued to have more difficulty recruiting. Recruitment difficulty for employers in inner regional Australia was high at 59%. Recruitment was less difficult in outer regional, remote, and very remote Australia, at 57% and in major cities at 53%. The decline in the recruitment difficulty rate over the year to the June quarter 2024 was reported quite evenly across all three areas.
All reported industries except for Professional, Scientific and Technical Services recorded a decline in their recruitment rate over the year. The Health Care and Social Assistance industry has the highest recruitment rate of any industry at 60%, with Accommodation and Food Services following closely at 59%. The lowest recruitment rate this quarter was for Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, up by 2 percentage points from the June quarter 2023 to 37%. Recruitment difficulty is highest among Manufacturing at63%, and Wholesale Trade employers at 61%, though these rates are down compared with a year prior.
Overall, all occupation groups have experienced declines over the year, in both recruitment difficulty, and the proportion of employers taking longer than a month to fill their vacancies. Consistent with Jobs and Skills Australia’s findings that skill shortages are most pronounced for Technicians and Trade Worker roles, 75% of employers hiring for these workers said they had difficulty recruiting. Close to three in four, 72%femployers hiring these workers took longer than a month to fill their vacancies, the highest of any occupation group.
1: Noting that the results for the territories are averaged over six months
About the Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) June quarter 2024 report
The REOS report provides several indicators of recruitment activity and recruitment expectations, based on the findings from monthly surveys of approximately 1,000 Australian employers with five or more staff.
