The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey shows Australian job seekers can expect to find the strongest employment opportunities in the Transport & Utilities sector as we head into the final quarter of 2016.
Of the 1,500 public and private employers surveyed, 20 per cent of Transport & Utilities employers indicated they intend to increase their headcount over the October and December timeframe, while the majority (76 per cent) said they would not make any change to their current workforce.
The resulting seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of +17% is up four percentage points from last quarter and ten percentage points at the same time last year. This is the strongest forecast so far reported in 2016.
Managing director of ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand Richard Fischer said the surge in demand for workers over the next three months is driven by a need for these companies to stay technologically agile in today’s environment.
“The transport and logistics industry is going from strength to strength. As sophisticated stock management systems become increasingly essential for these companies, largely introduced by overseas companies now operating here, they are seeking smarter and more efficient ways of working. This in turn is driving a need for additional resources to help them innovate and adapt to changing consumer demands.”
National results
Across the nation, Australia’s hiring intentions are set to continue on a positive streak for the remainder of 2016. Of the 1,500 public and private employers surveyed, 18 per cent indicated they intend to increase their headcount over the October and December timeframe, while the majority (75 per cent) said they would not make any change to their current workforce.
The resulting national Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of +11% is up two percentage points from last quarter, and five percentage points from the same time last year.
Mr Fischer said the uptick in hiring intentions nationally is a sign that employers are increasingly impervious to political and economic instability that has preoccupied much of the news cycle this year.
“Change and uncertainty, both globally and locally, seem to have become the ‘new normal’. Yet despite recent events like the Federal election, a further cut to interest rates, and Brexit, Australia’s employment prospects are set to remain positive in the next quarter. This suggests that businesses are becoming more adept at blocking out the noise around economic and political issues – a trend we noted in the previous quarter, too, which was also marked by uncertainty.
“There are also obviously other indicators that help temper business’ response against uncertainty, such as a relatively stable unemployment rate and the avoidance to date of the expected abrupt slowdown of the Chinese economy.
“This isn’t to say there hasn’t been an impact due to uncertainty, but on the whole businesses appear to be getting on with it, with expectations to hire also driven by transformation projects within their own businesses,” said Mr Fischer.