Vacancies highest since 2008
The Department of Employment released its latest job vacancies figures up to November, and they were still running at high levels, with advertisements increasing to a seasonally adjusted 252,300, to be more than 50 per cent higher than pre-COVID levels.
New South Wales saw vacancies drop 4.5 per cent in November, but there were increases everywhere else.
Source: LMIP
This poses the question as to what happened in New South Wales in the month.
One possibility is that many roles were filled in a reopening hiring surge.
Just as likely, the numbers were just normalising from extreme and unprecedented highs in NSW.
In any case, over 250,000 vacancies is a strong figure indeed, and the highest since 2008.
This suggests that if Australia can hold its nerve and successfully manage a sensible reopening we should be in for a hiring blitz in 2022.
