Australian Labour Market: More and More Australians Looking for Work as National Employment Grows

The Australian labour market has seen higher growth for over a year now. Since the latter part of 2016, employment has grown every month. In fact, February data showed that the number of full-time jobs available has increased continuously for the past 17 months.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says that employment rose by 17,500 during the month. Currently, employment is at 12.48 million, the highest one so far on record. A spike has also been seen in the number of full-time jobs on offer, while part-time jobs saw a decrease.

News about more employment opportunities however is negated by an increase in unemployment rate. Pegged at 5.6%, it signifies that more Australians are looking for work but may not have been accepted yet.

What Kind of Jobs are Out There?

January 2018 figures showed an increase in part-time employment and a decrease in full-time employment. Come February, it was the opposite. Comparing part-time and full-time employment increases during the past 12 months reveal a 327,600 jump for full-time jobs, with part-time jobs only increasing by 93,100.

Labour force participation is also at a high rate of 65.7%. The country’s labour force also saw a significant increase of 406,700. This indicates that more and more Australians are “encourage to enter or rejoin the workforce.”

Where Are The Jobs At?

ABS also studied the employment trend across states and territories. New South Wales registered the largest increase at 28,400, followed by South Australia at only 7,500. Victoria however did not fare well in the area, registering a decrease in employment of 11,300.

Why Are There More Unemployed, if There are More Jobs?

The high employment numbers do not necessarily mean more people have jobs. It signifies the number of jobs available in the market, whether they are filled or not. Despite the increase however, there are still too many people wanting to be employed. There is not much to go around because there are more people looking for work.

For example, South Australia which registered the second largest increase in employment also has the highest unemployment rate at 6.3% during the month, slightly higher than the national average.

There is also the case of underemployment or underutilisation of labour. ABS pegs underemployment increasing, now at 8.4%, which indicates how many workers who are already employed would like to put in more hours. It also signifies that some sectors of the labour market are not efficiently using the capacity of their workers.

Job Seekers Need an Edge to Survive

Why aren’t job seekers landing the jobs that they want? Is it a matter of having the right skills, proficiency and attitude? Or is it more than that?

Apart from having the right skills set and experience behind you, what matters at the onset of looking for work is being able to present yourself to any prospective employer. Sending out resumes is an obvious first step, but nothing really happens until you get that call for a personal interview.

According to the Huffington Post, if there is one key message that your resume should say, it should go beyond the usual: “This is me, and this is what I have done in the past.” What’s more important for employers is to see why you are a fit for the position and what makes you stand out from the rest.

Even Executives Need Help

The job market is so competitive that the best qualifications don’t just cut it anymore. Even executives need all the help they can get to make the cut, especially if they are going against other executives like themselves.

Employers, especially those who are seeking the best fit to their company, are armed with the best recruiters and hiring managers. And with the amount of paper they have to go through to look for the perfect candidate, they have to have good reason to give a resume a closer look. A typical resume is a mere flyer which list surface-level aspects of your career. While those are important, they’re not enough to position you as a superior candidate in 2018 – especially at the senior level.

To gain an advantage over the rest of the competition, senior level executives need to consider getting the services of a professional resume writers. Through a combination of excellent copywriting and good design elements, resumes in their hands become transformed into a marketing document that “sells” them and their unique brand of professionalism.

Aside from better resumes, executives also need to step up their game when it comes to using social media platforms. Professional networks such as LinkedIn become an effective arena to share one’s professional achievements and showcase one’s unique value positions.