Category: news

Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 3.7% last month

Australian wages and salaries in the private sector jumped up by 11.6% in the December quarter of 2022 when compared to 2021. This compared to company gross operating profit which stood at 16%, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Bureau published its seasonally adjusted quarterly estimates in the private sector measuring sales, wages, profits and inventories for the December quarter 2022.

When compared to the previous quarter, wages and salaries rose by 2.6%, while company gross operating profits rose 11.6%.

On a quarterly basis, by industry, accommodation and food services saw the largest bump in wages and salaries at 7.7%, followed by arts and recreation at 7.4%. Transport, postal and warehousing went up by 6.3%; construction by 4.4%; and financial and insurance by 4.3%.

Data from the Bureau earlier this month showed that Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 3.7% last month, the highest it’s been since May of last year but still a decline of 0.5% from the same month last year.

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But monthly figures show reversal of 7-month downward trend

According to Seek’s latest employment report, job ads in Australia were down by 8.1% in January when compared to the same month last year.

However, on a monthly basis, job ads recovered from a 7-month downward trend, rising for the first time to 2.8% in January.

Job ads were 26.3% higher than January 2019, indicating that the market remains tight, despite job ads no longer being at record-levels.

Additionally, applications per job ad have jumped by 35.5% year-over-year, and 9.2% over the previous month, data shows.

On an annual basis, Queensland recorded a 0.9% uptick in job ads in January while Tasmania (3.8%) and South Australia (1.5%) also reported growth. On the other hand Victoria (-13.8%) and Australian Capital Territory (13.2%) reported the biggest declines over the year.

According to Seek, on a monthly basis, every state and territory recorded a rise in job ads in January, and Tasmania had the largest increase of 8.5%, followed by Queensland at 4.2%, and New South Wales at 2.7%.

By industry, on a monthly basis, the overall growth in job ads in January was led by Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics, which grew 5.3% month-on-month, Trades & Services, up 2.5% and Accounting, which increased 7.6%.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director of Seek ANZ commented: “Advertising volumes have reverted to November levels after falling marginally in December. While 2.8% seems a small increase in volume after seven months of decline, job ad levels remain above pre-pandemic levels for the majority of industries. For our largest hiring industries by volume, for example, job ads remain over 55% higher,”

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65% of employers had to offer higher salaries in order to attract new employees

According to research from Morgan McKinley, the majority, or 77%, of businesses in Mainland China plan to hire new permanent or contract employees in the first half of the year.

The research revealed that 41% of employers think they will lose staff in the next six months as they seek to earn more by moving jobs, and 45% of employees in Mainland China are looking to move jobs in the same period.

Morgan McKinley’s research also showed that 65% of employers had to offer higher than anticipated salaries in order to attract new employees over the last 12 months. Furthermore, 59% of employers in China think that salaries in their specific sector will rise in 2023, with 41% planning on increasing base salaries across all teams.

Over half, or 53%, of employees in China are expecting their salaries to increase this year, with 75% also expecting some form of bonus payout.

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88% of workers are planning to “work from anywhere”

The Australian state of Western Australia is targeting 31,000 UK and Irish workers, particularly key workers such as nurses, teachers, and police officers, to relocate Down Under for a more relaxed lifestyle and higher wages. Nurses in Western Australia typically earn over £49,000 per year, which is 58% more than the UK average of just over £30,000.

To attract UK and Irish workers, officials from Western Australia will attend job fairs across the UK to promote the benefits of moving abroad for a new career and a new life. The Western Australian government is confident that the appeal of higher wages, lower living costs, and a laid-back lifestyle will entice many UK and Irish workers.

The possibility of tens of thousands of workers leaving the UK for Perth could be alarming for HR directors who are already struggling to retain talent. However, companies can offer some of the benefits of working abroad without permanent relocation, such as offering “work from anywhere” flexibility to employees. A recent study conducted by IWG, the world’s largest flexible workspace operator, found that 88% of workers are planning to “work from anywhere” – UK or abroad. Over 50% of workers are planning to extend holidays this year to work abroad, with 67% agreeing that they can perform their job effectively abroad. 71% said that they would only consider a new job that gave them the flexibility to work from anywhere, at least some of the time.

Improved worklife balance was the most common benefit cited for working from anywhere (76%), followed by being able to spend more time with friends and family abroad (52%), saving money by travelling off-peak (47%), and being able to enjoy longer holidays (30%). Many office workers also want more financial support, as the cost-of-living crisis has had a drastic impact on the UK population.

The Western Australian officials believe that their pitch is unbeatable, with higher wages, lower living costs, and a laid-back lifestyle. Western Australia’s Police and Defence Industry Minister, Paul Papalia, was quoted as saying: “Our wages are higher, our cost of living is lower and our lifestyle is unbeatable.”

The Western Australian government’s proposal will pose challenges for UK companies, and HR departments will need to consider introducing “work from anywhere” flexibility and financial support to retain their talent. The current “war for talent” in the UK is well-documented, and tens of thousands of workers eyeing up a move abroad in search of higher pay and a more relaxed lifestyle could mean another battle for HR leaders.

Mark Dixon, IWG Founder and CEO commented: “For an increasing number of workers, the days of the daily commute are over, now that hybrid working offers the opportunity to work wherever we will be the most productive. And thanks to cloud technology, that can be anywhere in the world, provided there’s a high-quality internet connection available.

“So, it’s no wonder that more and more individuals are embracing the idea of combining work with travel, whether it’s for a few days tacked on to the end of a vacation, or a few months as a digital nomad.

“This trend is set to accelerate further, and we will continue to see more and more companies embracing WFA policies to improve employees’ work-life balance and increase their attractiveness as an employer.”

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Average rate levels for Ohio’s 257,000 employers are at lowest in over 60 years

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Administrator John Logue have announced that private employers in Ohio will pay nearly $90 million less in workers’ compensation premiums in the next fiscal year due to an 8% rate reduction, last week. The rate was approved by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Board of Directors.

Overall, the average rate levels for Ohio’s 257,000 private and public employers are at their lowest in over 60 years, according to the agency.

Governor Mike DeWine commented: “Businesses adopting a safety-focused culture is what allows us to reduce rates to the lowest they have been in 60 years. I applaud Ohio employers for their efforts in keeping their workplace safe.”

The BWC noted the 8% rate cut represents the average statewide change to loss costs and the administrative cost fund but does not include any costs related to other funds it administers. In addition, the actual premium paid by individual private employers depends on several factors, including the expected future claims costs in their industry, their company’s recent claims history and their participation in various BWC programs, according to the bureau.

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Only 37% of board members are made up of women

Women make up the majority of internal workers at staffing companies, but they are still underrepresented at the executive, CEO and board levels, according to the “Insights on Gender Parity in the US Staffing Industry” report. Its data comes from a study led by the Women Business Collaborative with support from the American Staffing Association, National Association of Personnel Services, Staffing Industry Analysts and the TechServe Alliance.

Of staffing firms surveyed, women represented a median 66% of internal staff. However, they represented only a median 50% of executive team members and a median 37% of board members. And these percentages could even overstate the actual proportion of women in executive and board roles, as staffing firms with female executives may have been more likely to participate in this survey. In comparison, a similar survey last year found that women represented a median 56% of internal staff, but they represented only a median 46% of executive team members and a median 36% of board members.

“This benchmark study and SIA’s report are game changers in the staffing industry in addition to being a very clear call to action for all leaders,” said Ursula Williams, chief operating officer for SIA. “Using the data and analysis in this report, industry professionals see the degree of gender parity as well as gain a greater understanding of the key strategies for supporting and advancing women. This will change our industry — and our workforce — for the better.”

It also found that women account for a substantial share of CEO/ownership at small staffing firms, but representation lags at midsize and large staffing firms. For small firms — those with less than $25 million in revenue — 53% had CEOs/owners who were women. That number went down to 45% among midsize firms — those with between $25 million and $100 million in revenue. It went down even further to 18% at large staffing firms with revenue of more than $100 million. The report noted that only 8.8% of Fortune 500 companies had female CEOs.

Interestingly, female-owned staffing firms had a higher Net Promoter Score than male-owned staffing firms, 84 versus 53. However, the report noted that association is not the same thing as causation, and there can be several factors at play. For example, the NPS for small staffing firms in aggregate in the survey was 75 while the NPS was 50 for large staffing firms, and small staffing firms have a larger percentage of female owners than midsize or large staffing firms.

The report is available online, and there is also a dynamic dashboard to view survey results, the “WBC Benchmark Survey on Gender Equity in the Staffing Industry.”

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56% of companies will increase average base pay by 3%

According to research by Payscale, fewer organizations plan to give pay increases this year. It found that only 80% of companies plan to give pay increases this year compared to 92% who planned to do so last year.

However, 56% of organizations say they will increase average base pay by more than 3%, up from 53% of firms last year who planned similarly sized increases.

Payscale also found that the percent of organizations planning to give formal pay increase twice annually has more doubled since last year, and 86% of firms will give raises out of cycle due to inflation, the rising cost of living and in preparation for pay transparency.

The report also found that with pay transparency on the rise, 45% of organizations currently include pay ranges in job postings, up from 22% last year. Additionally, 48% of organizations say pay transparency legislation is driving changes to improve compensation strategy.

Ruth Thomas, Chief Product Evangelist at Payscale commented: “Pay transparency is likely to continue expanding, with new legislation being proposed in more locations to ensure fair pay for employees. This is great news as pay transparency has been shown to help close the gender pay gap. In order to publish pay ranges with confidence, organizations first need to take on internal pay equity.”

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Accounting is the most desirable financial sector to work in

A new study from CMC Markets, an online trading platform, analysed monthly Google searches using Ahrefs for jobs within the financial industry to see which career is the most in demand. They also extracted the number of UK-based listings for each finance role from the job site Indeed during the month of December 2022.

 

Rank Job Title Total global Google searches 
1 Auditor 222,500
2 Actuary 166,600
3 Corporate banking 96,280
4 Bank teller 43,250
5 Forensic accounting 39,650
6 Compliance officer 35,170
7 Client advisor 29,080
8 Loan officer 22,950
9 Branch manager 18,560
10 Risk manager 17,430

The survey revealed that searches for ‘auditor’ ranked number one on the list with 222,500 monthly Google searches. People are searching 5,000 times on average a month for ‘auditor jobs’ and 500 times for ‘auditor careers’. There are currently 785 auditor jobs in the finance sector on Indeed.

It was reported that actuarial careers came closely behind as the second most sought-after job in finance with a combined 166,600 searches per month for ‘actuary careers’ and ‘actuary jobs’. An actuary was the only career within the insurance sector to make it into the top ten. There are currently 1,030 actuary jobs within the finance sector on Indeed.

The third most desirable finance career is corporate banking which amassed a total of 96,280 Google searches per month, 1,200 of which were for the search term ‘corporate banking jobs’. There are currently 3,748 corporate banking jobs on Indeed.

Another banking career took the fourth spot with bank teller totalling 43,250 Google searches every month, 12,000 of these monthly searches were for ‘bank teller jobs’. At present, there are only 35 bank teller jobs on Indeed.

In fifth place came forensic accounting with 39,650 Google searches per month and the sixth most in demand career in finance was a compliance officer with 35,170 monthly Google searches.

Despite being one of the ten most desirable finance jobs, forensic accounting only yields 64 job openings in the UK, according to Indeed. On the other hand, there are currently 6,685 compliance officer openings in the UK on Indeed.

With 29,080 Google searches a month, a client advisor was the seventh most searched for finance career and there are 811 job openings for client advisor roles on Indeed.

Loan officers and branch managers occupied the eighth and ninth place on the list with 22,950 and 18,560 monthly Google searches respectively. There are 1,744 roles on Indeed for both loan officers and branch managers in the UK. 

The research found that the tenth most in demand job in finance is a risk manager with 17,430 monthly Google searches. There are currently 5,259 job openings on Indeed for risk manager roles in the UK. 

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets commented: “Despite the scarcity of jobs in some industries, it seems that there is a noticeable interest within different sectors of the finance world. It is interesting to see that a large proportion of this number is made up of searches related to the banking sector. And as a whole, financial careers are being searched for 2,935,840 times per month on Google.”

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Outside of the tech industry, women accounted for just 14% of executive roles

Recruitment experts have analysed the gender makeup of Chief Information Officers at FTSE 100 companies ahead of International Women’s Day on the 8th of March.

Key findings from the unique research include:

• Between 2018 – 2022, only 42 women held CIO positions compared to 138 men
• In 2022, there were only 10 more female CIOs than there were in 2018

As we approach Women’s Day, it’s noted that equality is no longer enough and can be exclusionary. Simply put, equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities, but this only works if everyone has a level playing field to begin with.

Whereas equity recognises that each person has different circumstances and allocates the specific resources and opportunities needed to reach the same outcome.

While there has been a bigger discourse around the gender disparity at leadership level in tech over the past few years, research carried out by Frank Recruitment Group shows that progress is slow, as last year, there were only 10 more female CIOs at FTSE 100 companies than there were in 2018.

The findings are consistent with other recent research into diversity and inclusion at FTSE 100 companies. Outside of tech executive positions, Ernst & Young reported that women accounted for just 14% of executive directorships last year. Even looking at management roles as Statista did in 2020, women made up less than 35%.

According to Revolent, it’s a similar story at Fortune 500 companies, where women hold just 19% of CIO roles and have a shorter average tenure.

This all begs the question, is the slow progress due to the tech industry’s failure to embrace equity in its efforts to achieve equality?

Find the full report, including some strategies for increasing female representation in senior roles and methodology, here: https://www.frankgroup.com/blog/where-are-the-female-leaders/.

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57% of candidates said no feedback from interview was their greatest demotivator

SRG, a UK scientific recruitment organisation surveyed 754 candidates on their biggest blockers to motivation in their job-search. 

According to the survey results, over half (57%) of candidates cited no feedback from a job interview as their biggest blocker. 24% of candidates cited burnout and 10% said staying on top of managing job applications was their biggest blocker as a candidate. Meanwhile 9% said not knowing where to find jobs posed the greatest challenge to maintaining motivation. 

Hannah Mason, Principal Resourcer at Search by SRG said: “In this candidate driven market, businesses often forget the ‘two-way street’ and their interview processes are like interrogations. It is key that businesses are selling themselves to candidates throughout the process as well as highlighting their Employee Value Proposition and culture accurately. Senior and executive candidates are more selective than ever in the opportunities they pursue, and the current model of one-way interviews seldom meets the expectations of high-level candidates.” 

As economic uncertainty in the UK continues, access to best-in-industry talent is more critical than ever to maintain business continuity and futureproof organisational success. 

However, 70% of senior leaders report a lack of confidence in their organisational agility, and just 29% have enough employees to meet current performance requirements. As digitalisation continues to impact industries across STEM and beyond, skills gaps are widening, heightening the competition for talent. 7 in 10 leaders are experiencing major staff shortages and finding recruitment challenging. 

In this climate of scarcity and competitivity, a strong talent attraction strategy is vital. 

Alison Jones, Operations Director at SRG also commented: “Businesses need to hire people, not CVs. Companies need to move beyond approaching CV screening with a tick-box to strategically assessing capability. If a person’s CV meets most of the technical remit, interviewing that individual will extend and improve your talent base. I’ve lost count of the number of applicants rejected on something innocuous, who our consultants have persuaded the client to reconsider, only to go on to be successful for the very role they were rejected for. Our talent pool is diverse; therefore, CVs will be.” 

SRG is the UK’s leading scientific recruitment organisation. SRG provides market-leading services

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