What is the most competitive month for hiring?

New report reveals month with fewer applicants per job ad in Australia

What is the most competitive month for hiring?

Hiring managers in Australia can expect the most competition for talent in the month of August, according to a report.

The insights use SEEK data to determine the periods throughout the year when employers can expect high or low competition for talent.

"Hirers are generally going to face the most competition in August, with more ads on SEEK on average in August than across other months of the year — but with applications down in August relative to their annual peak each January," the insights read.

"This also means job seekers looking in August are going to face less competition with fewer other applicants and more roles available, resulting in applications per ad being generally lower in August."

Peak hiring month

The report attributed the August hiring peak to Australia's timing of the financial year. According to the report, governments and businesses are reassessing during this time their staffing needs for the new financial year.

This is also the time that staff leave following annual performance reviews and bonus payouts, leaving many vacant positions.

On the other hand, December reported the lowest level for job ads in Australia.

"The public and school holidays in December and early January likely make it a more difficult time to recruit and onboard new employees than other times of the year," the report read.

It rebounds by January, and will likely remain above average until April, when Easter rolls in and is accompanied by school holidays.

"Ads generally rebound again in May, with the level of job ads in May not too different from their typical level in August," the report read.

Hiring peak per industry

By industry, the Human Resources and Recruitment industry's peak month for job ads is during May, similar to many industries across the country.

The report noted that Retail and Consumer Products shows a "slightly more unique" seasonal pattern when it comes to recruitment.

"Its job ads typically jump in August and stay elevated until November, consistent with hiring in preparation for the peak retail sales periods, and ads then fall more in December than for other classifications," it read.

When are employees most likely to apply?

Despite August seeing the highest number of job ads pop up, this isn't the month when hiring managers see a lot of applications.

According to the insight, the number of applications for roles tends to peak each January before gradually declining for the rest of the year.

"Although total applications fluctuate at similar times to job ads, they don’t increase and decrease to the same degree, so the average number of applications per ad broadly declines across the year before increasing in November and December when job ads decline more than applications," the insights read.

In the HR and recruitment field, the report found that the peak for applications per job ad is during December, while the trough is in August.