Jobseekers also report difficulties in finding a job in Australia's financial services sector
New report finds that while specialist talent is fiercely contested, most workers feel the job market has grown harder to navigate
Most employers in Australia are reporting challenges in recruiting talent, according to a new report, which revealed a "polarised" labour market for the country's financial services sector.
The latest Keegan Adams Financial Services Talent and Employment Report found that 91% of employers feel it is just as hard or harder to find quality candidates as 12 months prior.
The report noted that this was "not surprising" amid increasing expectations among employers.
According to Keegan Adams, leading recruiters now approach high-quality candidates with specific skills rather than filling roles based on inbound applications.
As a result, counter and counter-counter offers reach as high as +40% of existing salaries for candidates.
Challenges for jobseekers
But recruitment challenges are not limited to employers alone, as the report found that 67% of workers believe it's harder to find a job now than 12 months ago.
"The majority perception among workers is of a frightening and sparse job market," the report read. "Across the last three years of this survey, difficulty finding a job continues to trend up."
This sentiment comes as job fears emerge as the biggest concern in the workforce, following more than 8,000 job cuts a year ago at the big banks.
These fears have left 42% of employees expecting to stay an average 42% longer in their current role than in 2023, according to the report.
This leaves the country's job market at "heightened extremes," where specific roles are in strong demand but jobseekers are underweighting or overlooking these positions.
"The market is not uniformly difficult – it is polarised, and navigating that polarisation is exactly what this report is designed to help with," said Claire Tate, managing director at Keegan Adams, in the report.
One way to address these challenges is by making updated assumptions on the job market.
"8,000 job cuts at the big banks last year show that the biggest name is no longer guaranteed to be the safest bet," Tate said in a statement.
"Much opportunity for career expansion sits beyond the giants – smaller firms can offer bigger roles, bigger opportunities."
AI's widespread adoption across major firms will also result in fewer job opportunities in these organisations, and job growth is predicted to come from smaller firms.
"The days of climbing one ladder at one company for 40 years are gone. The way people built careers a generation ago doesn't really work anymore," said Ben Hamer, an accredited Futurist, in a statement.
