HR jobs among few industries to log rising demand for workers amid national decline
Job ads for human resources and recruitment roles slightly went up in October, going against the overall decline in job ads recorded in most industries for the month, according to a new report from SEEK.
Its latest Employment Report showed a 0.6% increase in HR and recruitment job ads in October, joining the legal industry (0.9%) as one of the few professional services industries that saw more demand for workers.
This went against the overall monthly decline in total job ads in October, which fell 0.4%. Job ads were also down 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, and 2.2% year-on-year.
"Falling demand within the professional services and public sectors drove the overall monthly decline, while healthcare and medical, and retail and consumer products roles recorded monthly and annual drops in ad volume," said SEEK's senior economist Blair Chapman.
According to the report, the real estate and property industry logged the biggest monthly growth in job ads with 1.4%. This is followed by the manufacturing (1.1%) and construction (1.0%) industries.
"There were pockets of growth for the month, which reflect longer term demand within the construction and industrial sectors, particularly in New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia," Chapman said.
Queensland recorded the biggest monthly increase in job ads, with 0.5%, across Australia's states and territories.
The increase was strongly driven by the job ads growth in the trades and services (1.7%), as well as the manufacturing (1%) industries, according to the report.
Other locations that logged a monthly increase include South Australia (0.2%) and Western Australia (0.1%). The rest of Australia's states and territories saw a decline in job ads.
Rising applications per job ad
The decline in job ads comes amid rising month-on-month applications per job ad, according to the SEEK report.
In September, there was a 1.3% increase in applications, extending its uninterrupted growth to more than three years.
"As we move through the final weeks of 2025, where hiring activity tends to slow, candidate activity tends to rise, making it competitive for workers looking to secure a new position ahead of the new year," Chapman said.
Earlier this month, Jobs and Skills Australia noted that recruitment activity was down across half of the states and territories in October.
Recruitment activity was concentrated in metropolitan Australia, with 70.2% of online job ads recorded in capital cities, according to the report.
