Despite lukewarm economic conditions, Australian employers are optimistic about the year ahead with hiring intentions reaching their highest level in three years.
This quarter’s Hudson Report points to a strong outlook for the jobs market in 2015, with employer intentions to hire reaching their highest level since 2012.
The surge of confidence is reflective of the structural transformation underway in the Australian workforce, and the subsequent skillset changes that are necessary to compete in a post-GFC world.
According to Hudson, net hiring intentions for the first quarter of 2015 recorded their largest quarterly rise since Q1 2010, with a net 18.7 per cent of employers looking to increase permanent staffing levels in the first three months of the year, up 5.6 percentage points on the last quarter.
Hudson Australia executive general manager, Dean Davidson, said that while the outlook is buoyant, the thirst for talent is centered on specific sectors that support business transformation.
"These often newly created roles are critical to future success and profitability and as such may be less impacted by broader economic trends in the months ahead,” Davidson said. A net 20.4 per cent of employers in Queensland are looking to increase headcount.
NSW has also seen a wave of confidence with a net 19.4 per cent of employers planning to hire early next year while employers in the ACT are driving growth in contracting.
A net 14 per cent of ACT employers are intending to increase their contracting/temporary workforce in the first quarter of 2015. Davidson said demand for project managers has continued to increase over the past 18 months in the nation's capital.
"A key theme emerging across Australia is an increasing demand for employees who will have a real impact on businesses’ bottom lines," he said.
"We are seeing less demand for reporting and transactional roles and a shift towards roles that underpin future growth opportunities.
"The business environment remains challenging for most sectors and so businesses are focused on creating positions - and seeking out employees - that are really going to add tangible value.”
The number of people starting trade and non-trade apprenticeships and traineeships has increased for the first time in over a year.
Estimates from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) show trade commencements increased from 20, 900 in the June 2014 quarter to 21, 500 in the September 2014 quarter.
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the figures are proof the government's vocational, education and training reforms are working.
He said the $1.9 billion Trade Support Loans program for Australian apprentices learning their trade is proving popular with more than 9,500 young Australians taking up loans since August.
"This Government is not only encouraging young people to take up an apprenticeship, but is providing an incentive to complete it," Macfarlane said.
"Our wider package of reforms will ensure Australia’s skills and training system is industry-led and industry-relevant in order to build a skilled and job-ready workforce.”