Jobs: Australian outlook 2010

Zsa-Zsa Bowie Wilson & Rhiannon Elston

Recruiters paint a mixed picture for job growth in 2010 but all agree conditions are improving week by week.

December saw a fall in official job less figures and an increase in both the monthly ANZ Survey and Olivier Job Index, which both measure the number of jobs being advertised online and in newspapers.

Nationally those sectors that suffered the biggest hit to jobs during the GFC are predicted to show some of the strongest growth this year.

“Administration/clerical and Human Resources saw the greatest increase in job vacancies [in the Olivier Job Index],” says Robert Olivier. “They rose by 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively but they also suffered the biggest drop off in job numbers over the last year so they are making up some lost ground.”

He tipped accounting and legal sector to also show recovery in months to come.

“Some of the larger firms are still overstaffed so there won’t be much recruiting on the professional side but more on the commercial side as mergers and acquisitions pick up again,” he said

Tracey Thomson, managing director for FINITE IT Recruitment said she anticipated a “busier year” for the ICT sector.

“As banking picks up we will see an increase of jobs in the finance sector as well as in telecoms with the roll out of the National Broad Band Network. Another boom in the mining and resources sector will also create more [ICT] opportunities.”

Professional and skilled trade roles in the mining sectors of Queensland and Western Australia are also expected to generate strong job growth this year. The graduate employment market has also picked up across Australia.

Outlook by NSW/ACT
IPA Chief Executive Rabieh Krayem predicts mining, banking and health care to be strong hiring markets for 2010.

“Slowly but doggedly, the market has picked up,” he said. “There are positives coming out already in the transactional sector, [for example] customer service officers in the finances industry.”

“Employers are also taking on a lot more apprenticeships and graduates,”

The NSW/ACT accounting and finance employment market is showing signs of recovery following an almost stagnant recruitment period.

Matthew Cook, managing director of Michael Page Finance, said he expected figures to continue to improve in NSW as last year the state had seen the biggest fall of employment opportunities in Australia.

“Most of our clients are confident that there is little chance 2010 could be any worse than 2009,” Mr Cook said.

Mr Cook said in the last three months their blue chips clients had started hiring contractors to supplement their teams while some of their larger clients had taken on permanent staff to resume postponed projects and new projects during 2010.

“We’re seeing demand for business analysts, financial analysts and management accountants,” he revealed

“There is also a significant increase at executive level for CFOs and finance directors in excess of $300,000.”

Last month Nigel Heap, CEO of Hays, predicted a skills shortage for a range of skillsets including Financial and Commercial Analysts, Estimators, Business Development Managers and technical IT specialists.

Victoria
Victoria’s ICT industry remained steady during 2009 but Mr Olivier predicts stronger job growth with the implementation of the smart grid.

“Smart grid is part of the green revolution that has a large commitment from the government,” Mr Olivier explained.

“Victoria has been leading the way in IT particularly with the roll out of the smart grid project.”

Mr Cook is also confident that the accounting and finance market will also start picking up again in line with NSW as the banking industry in both states continues to strengthen.

Queensland
Gary Banks, director at ABT recruitment, says the last quarter has seen a steady recovery for Queensland’s finance and accounting industry.

“In 2009, as the best performing state for accounting and finance, we still dropped to a third of the jobs we had on prior to the GFC,” Mr Banks said.

“We saw the head freeze loosen in October 2009 and now we are up to two thirds of the jobs we had on prior to the GFC.”

Mr Banks envisaged job numbers would continue to increase in 2010 partly fuelled by candidates who, having held out last year to change jobs, were chasing new opportunities.

Mr Olivier, Managing director of the Olivier Group said employment opportunities in Queensland’s mining and engineering industry would also pick up.

“When the price of commodities fell in 2009 the [mining and engineering] industry nose dived, but now that commodities are recovering we will see an improvement in job numbers but to a lesser extent than in WA.”

South Australia
The manufacturing industry is showing strong signs of recovery in South Australia according to Clements recruiter Dominic Virgara.

“It has definitely picked up by 40 per cent form six months ago,” Mr Virgara said.

“We’re also seeing a big jump in infrastructure particularly within rail; tram and rail line extensions, line upgrades and bridge constructions, as well as the construction of the Northern Expressway.

“These projects kicked off in November, so we’ve had groups of 50 plus [contract workers] going out on different projects.”

Mr Virgara told CareerOne that the mining and resources industry had dropped “right off” in 2009 but South Australian recruiters were hoping to see some signs of a turn around in 2010 as the economy continued to grow.

Western Australia
Western Australia is in the “driving seat” for employment opportunities according to Hays recruiter Simon Winfield.

“Not only is the mining and resources industry taking off but WA has $200 billion worth of infrastructure and construction projects underway,” the national director mining & resources explained.

“This means more employment prospects for both white collar workers and skilled trades people and that’s only going to increase in 2010.”

Mr Winfield says that those employers who stopped recruiting permanent staff last year now found themselves under resourced.

“Geologists are in high demand and experienced mining engineers are still a problem [to find]. Operators have also increased their demand of above and below surface heavy machine operators.”

He said skills shortages would force many clients to start recruiting employees from overseas again.

“People on 457 visas were among the first to lose their jobs but now that employers have started hiring again the Australian job market is void of these people and there will be a shortage of the right skills.

He added that any GFC “hangover” associated with raising salaries would be short lived.

Duncan Thomson, general manager at Finite IT recruitment said the ICT industry would also benefit from the mining and resources boom.

“We expect Perth to be one on the quickest job markets to recover from the downturn as the pick up in the mining and resources industry will mean more jobs for IT workers.”