Australian employers are expected to maintain strong hiring intentions through the second quarter of 2023 amidst a backdrop of continued talent shortages, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey report that is released today.
Of the 1,020 Australian employers surveyed, 44% reported intentions to increase their headcount during the coming quarter, 13% anticipated a decrease while 40% expect no changes to their numbers. The resulting Net Employment Outlook is +30% after seasonal adjustments, weakening by 2 percentage points since last quarter, but strengthening by 3 points since this time last year.
ManpowerGroup Australia Managing Director, Penny O’Reilly says, the latest figures indicate Australian employers are remaining optimistic despite the uncertain economic environment and scarcity of skilled talent.
“While we are seeing some high-profile global organisations decreasing headcount in specific areas of their operations, the majority of Australian businesses are feeling confident and looking to adopt a growth mindset as they head into the second quarter of 2023.”
KEY FINDINGS SUMMARY
- Positive headcount growth anticipated across all sectors: Organisations in all nine sectors across Australia expect to increase staffing levels in the upcoming quarter, with the strongest hiring outlooks reported in the Information Technology (+56%), Communication Services (+45%), and Industrials & Materials (+35%) sectors.
- Australia’s Information Technology sector recorded the highest Net Employment Outlook across the globe. Australian Information Technology sector recorded a Net Employment Outlook of +56%, increasing by 18 percentage points since last quarter and 17 percentage points since a year ago.
- Hiring managers in all eight regions of Australia anticipate increasing staffing levels in the upcoming quarter.
Medium-sized organisations are the most optimistic. Medium-sized organisations recorded a Net Employment Outlook of +38%, an increase of 2 percentage points since last quarter and 3 percentage points since a year ago.
“The Australian Information Technology sector continues to be the standout performer, not only for the Australian employment market but the global employment market. Competition for talent in the Information Technology sector is already at historical highs and these figures suggest that will remain the case for quite some time.”
“The Australian SME market was impacted particularly hard through the pandemic. It is encouraging to see strong levels of optimism return within medium-sized organisations,” Ms O’Reilly said.
TALENT SHORTAGE
The latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey report also revealed four in five Australian employees are currently having either some or a lot of difficulty filling jobs due to a lack of skilled talent.
Specifically, Australian businesses identified IT/Data Base skills (24%) as the most difficult skills to find followed by Front Office/Customer Facing skills (20%) and Sales/Marketing skills (19%).
The report also indicated large employees (250+ employees) are having the hardest time with 83% reporting some or a lot of difficulty filling jobs due to lack of skilled talent, whereas just 73% of small organisations (10-49 employees) are having difficulty filling jobs due to lack of skilled talent
“The chronic shortage of skilled talent in the Australian market is one of the biggest issues facing local employers right now.”
“Australian employers cannot simply wait for the talent shortage to fix itself. Employers must shift their thinking towards up-skilling and re-skilling the talent they have, in order to build the talent they need.” Ms O’Reilly said.
HIRING OUTLOOK IN ASIA PACIFIC
Hiring managers across APAC anticipate strong hiring intentions (+27%), improving by 2 percentage points when compared to the previous quarter but weakening slightly by 1 percentage point year-over-year. The strongest labour markets are expected from Australia (+30%), Hong Kong (+30%), and India (+30%) while the weakest outlooks are forecast to be Taiwan (+9%) and Japan (+10%).
The only region reporting an increase in hiring intentions from Q1, perhaps due to the reopening of trade and travel in mainland China, with its economy beginning to recover. This has affected the rest of the region with rebounding consumer demand and travel.
Strongest hiring intentions globally for the Communications Services sector are found in Hong Kong (81%) and Information Technology in Australia (56%).
