As various parts of Australia are impacted by new outbreaks of covid-19, the latest job vacancy figures published by the ABS illustrate that job vacancies have risen by 57 percent in May 2021 compared with the figures released in February 2020.
One of the major reasons for these labour statistics is the fact that there is a lack of people migrating to Australia as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic.
There were around 362,000 job vacancies in Australia during May 2021. These figures are higher than anything ever seen before in Australia. This number of job vacancies was 69,000 more than February 2021 and 132,000 more than last February 2020.
As many as 22 percent of Australian businesses reported at least one vacancy during May 2021, this is double the level of job vacancies in February 2020. This is an increase of 11 percent.
Businesses across pretty much all industries have reported difficulties in filling vacancies.
However, it is not just businesses that need staff, with the ABS showing both the private and public sector are in urgent need of skilled workers.
The growth in Australia’s job vacancies over the quarter was concentrated in the private sector. This turns out to be a total of 66,000 job vacancies. This is an increase of 96 percent.
The largest increase in job vacancies since February 2020 was in the arts and recreation services sector with an increase of 170 percent, accommodation and food services a 159 percent increase, and rental, hiring and real estate services with an increase of 144 percent.
Despite these figures, the data illustrates that businesses in mining, manufacturing, construction and education are among a raft of roles where businesses are struggling to find staff for advertised roles.
Private sector job vacancies increased by 25 percent over the quarter. This turns out to be 61 percent above the figures from February 2020.
Public sector vacancies, or government jobs, have also been negatively impacted by these changes, with an increase of 10 percent over the quarter and is now 24 percent higher than the figures from February 2020.
Although businesses might be struggling to gain skilled workers, data shows that businesses are unlikely to pay more to gain or retain current staff.
Figures published by Hays Recruitment showed that salary guide, worker shortages are unlikely to see firms cough up bigger salaries. In fact, employers intend to offer minimal pay increases, which are likely to not live up to the expectations of workers who sacrificed during the past year.
One of the major findings from Hays’ survey is that only a tiny 12 percent of employers are looking to award salary boosts of 3 percent or more to their employees, while in contrast to this, 67 percent of employees say an increase of 3 percent or more would better reflect their performance.
The Average Australian Workers Just Over $60,000
Figures from the 2018-19 financial year showed that the average salary for Australians who submitted tax returns was $63,085. This is an increase up from $1634 recorded in the previous year.
The median reported salary that provides a more accurate picture of the “average” Aussie as the figure is not pulled higher by millionaires for 2018-19 was $52,732.
The data also revealed that there was a major difference between the earnings of Australian men and women.
In 2018-19, Australian men earned a median taxable income of $55,829, compared to $40,547 for women.
During this same financial year, Australians paid a median net tax of more than $11,000.
When broken down by each state, NSW home was by the lion’s share of high-income earners.
Australia’s wealthiest suburb was Double Bay located in Sydney, where individuals had an average taxable income of $202,598.
This was closely followed by Toorak in Melbourne, a suburb which had an average income of $201,926.
The only suburb in the top 10 that was not in NSW or Victoria was Cottesloein Western Australia. Cottesloe ranked six, with its residents earning an average income of $179,376.
In terms of occupations, Surgeons were once again the country’s highest-paid individuals on average, earning $394,303.
They were closely followed by anaesthetists on $386,065 and internal medicine specialists on $304,752.
Other major inclusions on the list were financial dealers who earned an average of $275,984, mining engineers who made an average of $184,507 and chief executive officers with $164,896.
All in all, only two percent of Australia’s 14.3 million workers take over $200,000 a year. Only three percent of Australians earn $188,667.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison earns $550,000 a year. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese takes home $390,000.
Scott Morrison is the fifth highest paid world leader only behind the leaders of Singapore, Hong Kong, USA and Germany.