Career coach Tammie Ballis said the job market was a ‘nightmare’ right now and urged people not to quit their jobs without another one in place. (Source: TikTok/NewsWire)
Aussie workers are being warned not to quit their jobs in the current “dismal” market. Job vacancies have dropped over the past three months, and job applications are sitting at record highs.
Total job vacancies were 327,200 in August, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data found, marking a 2.7 per cent drop from May. The number of unemployed people for each job vacancy has risen from 1.9 to 2.0, the highest level seen since February 2021.
Realistic Careers founder Tammie Ballis told Yahoo Finance workers should stay in their jobs if it was tolerable, or they could risk being out of work for much longer than expected.
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“I’m finding the ones that leave their jobs before having another one to go to are in trouble. It’s taking so much longer in the job market,” Ballis said.
Ballis said the job market was a “nightmare” right now, with hundreds of people applying for a single job, something she hasn’t seen before.
She’s seen some medical receptionist jobs getting 400 applicants, while other tech roles get 800 people applying.
“It is an employer’s market. I think it’s going to stay that way for a long time,” she said.
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If you can tolerate your job, Ballis said the best thing to do was to stick with it and start looking for new roles slowly, so you can take your time and apply effectively.
“Have a good resume, note your achievements on your resume, that’s what makes you stand out,” she said.
“Applying is not going to get you anywhere. It’s going to be hard. Start networking … get on LinkedIn, be active on LinkedIn, go to networking events.”
Ballis said many of the applications that employers and recruiters received came from people who were not qualified for the job, but this nonetheless clogged up the system.
Ballis is finding it’s taking some people six months to find jobs, when previously it would take between one to three months.
Recent SEEK data found applications per job ad rose 0.7 per cent month on month in August and were now the highest on record.
It’s revealed the list of roles that are currently most in-demand on its site, with administration officers topping the list with 17,946 job ads. This was followed by support workers, educators and teachers.
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Administration officer: 17,946 ads
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Support worker: 16,989 ads
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Educator: 16,768 ads
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Teacher: 12,369 ads
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Store manager: 10,629 ads
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Accountant: 9,635 ads
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Nurse: 9,043 ads
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Truck driver: 8,502 ads
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Electrician: 6,471 ads
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Chef: 6,372 ads
SEEK senior economist Blair Chapman said the list highlighted the market trends that were driving demand.
“Demand for health and care-related roles has grown steadily for many years as Australians become more health-conscious, particularly as the large, ageing baby boomer generation demands more care, and as the NDIS has expanded,” he said.
“As a result, the demand for nurses remains high despite relatively fast employment growth over the past year. Similarly, demand for support workers also remains high, with demand in both the disability and aged care spaces.”
Chapman said large infrastructure projects were driving a pickup in dwelling construction, while the increased use of online delivery was keeping truck drivers in demand, with the highest demand in the capital cities, along with pockets in regions, particularly in Queensland and WA.
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