Whether you have a calling in your career or you just want to find a job that will bring in a regular income, knowing which industries are doing well – and which industries aren’t doing so well – can be very handy indeed.
According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are a number of industries that seem to be on the way up, and there are those on more of a downward slide.
Given the news of Holden, Ford and Toyota’s retreat from Australia, it’s no surprise that manufacturing is one of the industries where jobs are decreasing rather than increasing.
Between 2000 and November 2013, employment in the manufacturing sector fell 13%, with 140,000 jobs lost. In Victoria during that time, 29% of the state’s manufacturing jobs were cut (95,100 jobs), while in NSW, 18.5% of the manufacturing workforce was cut (52,900 jobs).
However, the news for employment overall was not quite as grim over that 13 year period, with total employment rising 29% or 2.62 million, to more than 11.6 million. Victoria’s total job numbers increased 336,600, or 20.3%, while NSW jobs increased 12.2%, bringing in 276,100 new jobs.
Job sectors on the rise
Image courtesy: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Jobs in mining over that 13 year period grew an astounding 252%, with 196,500 jobs created. However, over the past three years, that incline was less steep, with job numbers growing at a rate of 37.5%.
It’s expected growth in the mining industry will continue to slow as development slows down and fewer construction jobs are needed. Construction jobs in the mining industry rose by 20% between 2005 and 2013, but only 1.4% between 2010 and 2013.
Elsewhere, other industries continue to grow. Jobs in education and training rose by 40% or 256,000, while employment in the professional, scientific and technical services sector rose by 280,600 to 896,300, and to 774,000.
Employment in accommodation and food services rose by 21.7% or 139,000. Jobs in healthcare saw a sharp rise, increasing 65% or 555,600 between 2000 and 2013, while jobs in public administration rose by 55% or 275,000 over the same period.
That public sector increase is not expected to continue thanks to government cuts, however, jobs in healthcare and the finance sector are expected to keep on growing.
Job sectors on the decline
Manufacturing and agriculture were the two sectors that experienced the biggest drop-off in job numbers between 2000 and 2013. The agriculture industry dropped 30% or 113,000 of its jobs, 38,900 of which were cut between 2010 and 2013 (compared to manufacturing’s 56,600 job decline over the same three-year period).
Media and telecommunications also felt its share of job losses. Jobs fell by 5% or 34,000 between 2000 and 2013, falling by almost 23% in the past three years. The real estate industry also felt the pressure of job losses, with job numbers falling 3.4%.
Jobless Australians feeling the pressure
While some plan for the future, some job-seekers cannot find a job for the now. January’s unemployment figures showed a loss of 30,000 full-time jobs, and a decrease in the employment participation rate.
“The job market is really, really tough at the moment, and we’ve seen an increase in the number of people being referred to us for help to find work, particularly late last year, and that’s continued early this year,” said Martin Thomas from Mission Australia, a leading employment and training provider.
While the national unemployment rate is 5.8%, some employment service providers say youth unemployment has risen substantially, reaching 30% in some areas of Australia.
“Really, when you look at some of the hot-spots for unemployment across the nation, like south-western Sydney, parts of Adelaide, in some of these areas [rates of] youth unemployment are upwards of 30% in some cases.”
Those who have tried and failed to find a job are increasingly giving up the search, with the labour force participation rate falling 0.2% in December.
“The rejection that happens when they’re trained to gee themselves up, be confident, to present themselves daily and to get the knockback. They almost feel defeated before they enter battle for a job,” Thomas said.
“There’s certainly an environment of gloom out there as you listen to the headlines, not only when you see the job losses that are happening at factories and then also the reductions that are pending in government spending,” he said. “It’s a cocktail I guess for people to feel that there’s very little light on the horizon.
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