The states have injected millions with the aim of injecting cash into the economy via household spending over the summer.
Australian recruitment company Seek recorded its highest job ad levels in the past two years, as the country continues its path to reopening.
It posted a 10.2% increase in jobs listed month-on-month in October, amid a raft of stimulus measures by the NSW and Victorian governments.
Kendra Banks, managing director of Seek, said the surge in job ads signalled Australia’s economic resurgence was well underway, supported by economic stimulus measures rolled out in recent weeks.
“This was due in large part to restrictions easing in our two most populated states, NSW and Victoria, and businesses embraced this welcome news by preparing for the summer holiday period,” Banks said.
Overall Seek recorded an increase of 63.2% on national job ads year-on-year, with the biggest jumps in NSW, the ACT and Victoria — at 20.3%, 19% and 16.3% respectively.
NSW and Victoria, which both eased restrictions in October, including allowing the resumption of in-person trading for retail and hospitality venues, also drove the surge in listings in these sectors.
Jobs ads in hospitality and tourism rose by over 35%, followed by listings in education and administration, as companies begin to return their workforces to the office.
The numbers reflect the recent injection of stimulus into the economies of the country’s two biggest cities.
In late October NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced a new stimulus package geared at “pent-up” consumer demand across the state and designed to inject cash into the economy via household spending.
The $2.8 billion stimulus package awarded the hospitality sector $66 million in the form of payments to bars and cafes to encourage them to set up outdoor dining for the summer, along with additional funds for the arts.
The Victorian government launched a similar scheme, earmarking $54.5 million for outdoor spending initiatives.
It will award Victorian businesses, community organisations, not-for-profits and trader associations $2,000 grants once they spend that amount on outdoor initiatives.
As a consequence of an explosion of jobs listed, the site recorded a slight dip in job applications, Banks said.
“Having a record number of jobs posted on seek.com.au contributes to a drop in the number of job applications per ad,” she said.
Job applications fell by 5.4% month-on-month, the jobs board reported, which is 44.2% lower when comparing the same period two years ago.
The news job ads data also comes amid reports of a skills shortage in many sectors, as closed borders lock out international workers who traditionally filled a raft of hospitality and retail jobs.
Seek data released in September found there were 55% more short-term jobs in retail and hospitality advertised than at the same time last year, with the employment marketplace reporting it had 20,000 casual jobs listed on the site and 5,000 of these based in NSW.
Chief executive of Business NSW Daniel Hunter said in early October the state needed to get its borders opened to attract skilled migrant workers to address the labour shortage.
“When we went into this lockdown, there was already a skilled migration shortage and a general labour shortage,” Hunter said.
“In Australia we rely on immigration and migration for short-term and long-term labour, so the key really is to get this bounce back,” he said.
