Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey
Jobs and Skills Australia surveys approximately 1,200 employers each month to find out about their experience when recruiting staff as well as whether they are expecting to increase staffing levels. This feedback provides insights about labour market conditions and to develop resources designed to help job seekers understand what employers are looking for.
The Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) is one of a number of sources of labour market information available, including the Internet Vacancy Index (IVI), Small Area Labour Markets (SALM), the Employment Region Dashboards and Profiles the Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation (NERO), and Five-Year Employment Projections.
Key indicators - December 2022
Recruitment activity
In December 2022, 52% of employers reported recruitment activity – 6 percentage points fewer than last month, and 1 percentage point higher than last year.
- In Capital Cities the recruitment rate eased by 4 percentage points to 53% of employers. In Rest of State areas, the recruitment rate decreased by 11 percentage points.
Proportion of employers who were currently recruiting or who had recruited in the past month
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey, December 2022
Recruitment difficulty
The recruitment difficulty rate fell by 4 percentage points to 65% of recruiting employers (representing 34% of all employers).
- The recruitment difficulty rate eased by 2 percentage points to 68% of recruiting employers in Rest of State areas, while in Capital Cities it eased by 6 percentage points to 63%.
Proportion of recruiting employers who had recruitment difficulty
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey, December 2022
Staffing outlook
Employers’ expectations to increase staffing levels over the next three months eased to 25%.
- In Capital Cities, the proportion fell by 8 percentage points to 23%, 14 percentage points less than its peak in April 2022 (37%). There was no change in proportion for Rest of State areas (28%).
- Some 3% of employers were expecting to decrease staffing levels over the next three months, a decrease of 2 percentage points since November 2022.
Proportion of employers expecting to increase staffing levels over the next 3 months
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey, December 2022
Selected quarterly results
Quarterly results are released in the December, March, June and September editions of the Recruitment Insights Report. Below are some results from the most recent quarter (December 2022 quarter).
Recruitment rate by selected industries
- Accommodation and Food Services (72%) and Health Care and Social Assistance (65%) had the highest recruitment rates in the December 2022 quarter.
- The lowest recruitment rates were for Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (41%) and Wholesale Trade (50%).
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey, December quarter 2022
Recruitment difficulty by selected industries
- Recruitment difficulty was highest for Construction (80%) and lowest for Retail Trade (62%) in the December 2022 quarter.
- Recruitment difficulty was much higher in the current quarter than it was at the same time last year. The largest difference was for Construction (+ 21 percentage points), followed by Wholesale Trade (+ 18 percentage points). The smallest changes were in Accommodation and Food Services (+ 4 percentage points) and Health Care and Social Assistance (+ 1 percentage point).
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey, December quarter 2022
Recruitment Insights Report - December 2022
The Recruitment Insights Report highlights key findings and trends in recruitment activity, recruitment difficulty and future staffing expectations. Each report is accompanied by an excel datafile containing time series data for each key indicator
This month’s report includes key indicators for the December 2022 quarter.
Methodology
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) conducts the Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) to monitor recruitment activity and conditions across Australia.
The REOS surveys employers across Australia, and up to 14,000 businesses respond to the survey throughout the year.
The survey collects information on employer recruitment activity, recruitment difficulty and staffing outlook – all important indicators to help policy makers and analysts to monitor and understand current and emerging labour market conditions. Data are released as close to collection as possible, providing an almost real-time view of recruitment activity across Australia.
The REOS questionnaire continually evolves to stay current with changes in the Australian labour market that directly impact on businesses and their recruitment.
For more information on the survey methodology, key concepts used in the survey and to view the questionnaire, see the paper:
Contact Details
For information on the REOS survey email RecruitmentSurveys@jobsandskills.gov.au or telephone 1800 059 439.
For information on the Recruitment Insight Reports email RecruitmentAnalysis@jobsandskills.gov.au