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Employment

Australia’s population is close to 21.2 million and employment is about 10.6 million. Australia’s population and workforce are highly concentrated, with three states, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland together accounting for over three-quarters of both employment and population. The largest State in terms of population and employment is New South Wales (which has a population of 6.5 million and employment of 3.3 million), which makes up about one third of the country’s population and employment, followed by Victoria (population of 4.9 million and employment of almost 2.6 million).

The fastest growing labour market in number and percentage terms over the last five years has been Queensland, which added 379 500 new jobs at a growth rate of 21.7%. Driven by strong growth in Mining and Construction, employment in Western Australia has also grown strongly, with 163 800 new jobs, a growth rate of 17.4%.

Over the past decade, the Australian workforce has experienced significant demographic changes. The proportion of workers aged 45 years and over increased significantly, although the proportion of workers aged 24 years or younger remained relatively stable.

Australia’s 10.6 million workers can be classified into 17 broad industries. Four of these industries provide almost half of Australia’s jobs. The largest employer is Retail Trade which has almost one in every seven workers (1.6 million people, 15% of national employment). Three other industries also employ in excess of one million Australians, Property and Business Services (1.3 million, more than one in every ten workers), Health and Community Services and Manufacturing (1.1 million each, about one in every ten jobs).

Apart from industry-specific factors, such as level of retail spending and demand for Australian exports, there are many factors which influence the level of employment in these industries, including the rate of economic growth, structural and technological change and labour market flexibility. The rate of employment growth has been strongest in some of the smaller industries, such as Mining and Transport and Storage although, given their relatively small employment size, they have not contributed as many jobs as slower growing but larger industries. Construction has grown strongly and contributed the most new jobs over the past five years.

      
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In the past five years, nearly 1.2 million new jobs were created. Much of this growth was driven by four key industries, accounting for more than three of every five new jobs
• Construction (236 200)
• Property and Business Services (182 000)
• Health and Community Services (163 700)
• Retail Trade (154 000).

In percentage terms, employment growth was strongest in the following industries
• Mining (64.6%)
• Construction (33.6%)
• Transport and Storage (24.5%)
• Cultural and Recreational Services (22.5%).

Future job prospects depend on many factors, some of which are difficult to predict. Prospects differ between and within States and Territories and can change rapidly. Even in occupations with below-average prospects, significant employment opportunities may arise. This information should therefore be used with caution.

The following future job prospect ratings are for the period to 2012-13. The ratings are based on employment trends and projected growth, unemployment rates, SVI trends (where available), and other data. While the global recession could adversely affect prospects for some occupational groups in the short term, it is unclear at this stage what effect it will have on average prospects to 2012-13.

In the following table a limited number of good prospects are covered. G stands for good prospects, A for average prospects and BA for below average prospects; L (not in the table) stands for limited prospects.

 
 

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