The latest SEEK Employment Report has confirmed the impact of COVID-19 on retail employment.
Retail was one of the hardest hit sectors in April, as lockdown procedures impacted store operations, with advertising volumes falling 55%.
SEEK ANZ MD Kendra Banks said recent week-on-week job ad data looks slightly more promising.
“It is encouraging to see that we may be at a turning point in the employment market as the latest figures in May point to an easing in the rate of job advertising decline.
“April was the first full calendar month where we had a clear indication of how coronavirus was impacting the employment market.
”The full set of social isolation measures were not imposed until mid- March, which explains why March job ad declines were -27.4%, compared to April’s decline of -49.9%.
Different industries have been impacted in different ways, as a direct result of their operating models.
The Mining, Resources & Energy sector is holding up reasonably well, showing a decline of -11% for the month, which is the lowest level of decline across all industries.
Retail & Consumer Products and Hospitality & Tourism have suffered due to the significant restrictions imposed on their license to operate, with month on month job ad declines of - 55% and -59.6% respectively.
“In the first two weeks of May, we have seen job ad volumes slowly creep back up, which aligns to the will of governments to get the economy moving and get people back into jobs,” Banks said.
”We know this will take some time, which is why we are cautious to be too positive at this point.”