Regional Australia is already below the new nationwide unemployment target of four per cent and in most places the need for labour is outstripping supply, with demand for workers stronger now than at the height of mining boom, a new study reveals.
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The Regional Australia Institute's latest job vacancy report showed regional unemployment dropped to 3.8 per cent in December 2021, while job vacancies rose 36 per cent over the year.
RAI chief economist Dr Kim Houghton said in the regions were "firing on all cylinders" and the overriding issue was not finding jobs, but finding workers.
"With full employment in the regions, labour shortages are really starting to bite," Dr Houghton said.
In November, advertised regional job vacancies peaked at a record 79,000. Although that figure dipped to 70,000 in December due to seasonal hiring patterns, Dr Houghton said regional job advertisements were "sitting way above previous highs at the height of mining boom".
"Encouragingly, the spread of locations is more evenly distributed and the range of occupations is more diverse than the mining boom," he said.
"That shows growth in a very broad and healthy way, with a labour market looking for a wide range of skills and occupations, in a wide range of places."
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The strongest demand in December was for professional workers, which accounted for a quarter of all job vacancies in regional Australia, followed by technical and trade workers (16 per cent), and community and personal care workers (13 per cent).
Dr Houghton said the easing of domestic and international travel restrictions would likely to increase the labour pool, as the natural flow of skill migrants began to trickle back into the regions.
But extra policy measures were needed to increase the size and capability of the regional workforce, he said, such as fast tracking suitable housing and boosting regional education and training.
"Most of the growth is in Cert 4 certificates and above, so TAFE courses, skills, trades and tech, and managers," Dr Houghton said.
"If we can increase post-school education opportunities in the regions and get locals skilled up to fill these higher-wage professions being advertised, we can begin to lift the regional average income."
Jamieson Murphy
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
