Australia’s insurance & superannuation industry is bucking a national trend – in a bad way.
Employment marketplace SEEK has released its May 2020 report, which shows a 39.7% month-on-month increase in jobs advertised on the platform across the country. The highest contributor was hospitality & tourism (138% surge from April), followed by sport & recreation (123%) and sales (99%).
“We are encouraged to see industries which were hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic rebounding at a good pace,” said SEEK ANZ managing director Kendra Banks. “Hospitality & tourism is up 138% month-on-month, with Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria performing very well.
“Authorities gave businesses the green light to restart their operations, resulting in increased hiring activity. Top jobs in the sector included chefs and cooks and front-of-house staff.”
Other sectors that posted job ad growth included real estate & property (86%), retail & consumer products (62%), community services & development (51%), administration & office support (48%), and consulting & strategy (43%).
“Trades & services also made a strong contribution to job ad volumes, up 36% month-on-month in May,” noted Banks. “After being closed for several months, nail salons, hairdressers, and other personal maintenance services are expected to see an increase in consumer demand, which could be why the top jobs for trades & services included hair & beauty services.
“As businesses look to recommence their operations with social distancing in place, additional security to manage crowds and signage to communicate to customers could explain why the top jobs were security services and painters & sign writers.”
How about insurance & superannuation, you ask? The industry saw its figure decline instead of enjoying growth along with its peers. The banking & financial services space, for instance, posted a 15% jump.
The SEEK official explained: “Of all of the sectors, professional services has been slower to bounce back, which could be a result of a range of factors including reduced activity and people continuing to work from home.
“This was reflected in job ad volumes, where we saw key sectors such as information, communication & technology increase only marginally, by 1%, while insurance & superannuation was down by 2% month-on-month in May 2020.”
