Labour shortages continue to ease
April saw a 15% MoM decline in number of shifts per business driven by a high number of public holidays and the beginning of a seasonal slowdown as most of Australia enters the winter months.
Pleasingly we continue to see labour pressures ease with applications per shift growing 94% YoY. One of the core drivers of easing labour pressures is the return of international workers, with growth in this sector outstrippling local registrations. Overall international registrations have grown 160% YoY compared to 70% YoY growth for location registrations.
Despite Federal Government commentary surrounding wage growth we have actually seen the average wage on our platform fall 3% YoY. This is largely driven by Hospitality + Events -6% YoY and Aged Care – 10% YoY. Both these industries suffered from severe labour shortages in early 2022 and businesses were prepared to pay high wages to meet their needs.
As labour shortages continue to ease we are also seeing workers becoming more reliable improving 35% YoY and 10% MoM. We have seen a strong correlation between worker reliability and the applications per shift – as the application to shift ratio increases worker reliability improves.
Our overall labour trends are consistent with the SEEK employment report which is showing overall applications per job add 72% higher YoY.
Industry Insights
The Hospitality and Events industry led the overall decline in the amount of shifts per business falling 32% MoM and 41% YoY. This industry faced significant labour shortages in early 2022 as the economy opened and people craved experiences coupled with a significant reduction in international workers when compared to precovid levels. We expect to see this industry to remain subdued as we enter the winter months and expect to see a continued easing in supply with applications per shift improving 315% YoY. The change in dynamics saw overall worker rates Decline 6% YoY as price as wage pressured eases.
Aged Care businesses also saw significant YoY declines in the number of shifts per business falling 29% YoY. This time last year the economy was opening and COVID was running rampant creating chaos for the sector which was creating significant staffing challenges. Pleasingly these have eased with a 400% YoY improvement in the applications per shift. Similar to the hospitality and events sector the easing of labour challenges has led to a 10% YoY decline in average wages on our platform.
The Warehousing + Logistics sector has seen much more modest swings both on a MoM and YoY basis. Overall the number of shifts per business has grown 17% YoY despite an erosion in consumer sentiment driven by rising inflation and the resulting increases in interest rates as the RBA try to pull back inflation. Whilst supply pressures in this sector have eased the YoY movements have been far less pronounced growing 26% YoY.
Customer Service, Administration & Office Support (White Collar) saw similar growth rates to Warehousing & logistics with the number of shifts per business growing 16% YoY and applications per shift growing 2% YoY.
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