Employers' "wait-and-see" period is over: Hudson
Employers are back in hiring mode, with confidence the highest it has been since March 2008, according to the latest Hudson Employment Expectations report.
According to the report, a net 31.5% of companies expect to grow their headcount during the June quarter - the fourth consecutive quarter of rising confidence, and in stark contrast to a net hiring outlook of just 0.8% a year ago.
Some 36.7% of employers reported that they expected to hire additional employees, while 5.2% intended to reduce their staff numbers, and 58% expected no change.
Hudson Australia and New Zealand CEO Mark Steyn said the sustained firming in demand for new staff showed that "Australian employers’ wait-and-see approach is now coming to a close".
"It’s clear that employers are now building their teams for future growth.
"Our results not only underwrite the positive surge in labour demand... but also point to the increasing issue of looming skills shortages."
Finance and mining recruitment continues to bounce back
Small declines in hiring demand in a number of industry sectors were offset by sharp rises in several others, the Hudson report showed.
Confidence among resources employers reached a net 49.1%, up 9.2 percentage points compared with the previous quarter.
Construction, property and engineering hiring plans rose 7.9pp to a net 48.7%, and financial services continued to recover, up 4.1pp to 37.2%.
IT was up 1pp to 41.8%. Manufacturing continued to recover, rising 4.9pp to reach net hiring plans of 27.8%, and the private health sector also saw hiring intentions grow 4pp to 27%.
Meanwhile, government employers reported a net hiring outlook down by 0.5pp to a net 19.7%, and in advertising and marketing, confidence eased by 0.6pp to 22.5%.
In the wholesale and distribution industries, employment expectations were down 1.3pp to a net 26.7%, while professional services dropped 3.7pp to 41.1%, and FMCG was down 3.8pp to 14.4%.
Resources states fuel labour market
WA and Queensland tracked the highest levels of confidence on a state-by-state basis, at 48.6% and 40.3% respectively.
WA rose 5.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, while Queensland was up 5.1pp.
The ramp up of the Gorgon LNG project and other large-scale mining operations was having "an immediate impact" on the WA economy, Steyn said.
"Demand for staff has shown marked improvement, skill shortages are expected to show up quickly and already salary pressures are emerging that have not been seen since 2008."
Meanwhile, confidence in NSW rose 3pp to 30.2%, Victoria was up 0.4pp to 25.5%, and SA dropped 0.6pp to 27.3%.