The ManpowerGroup Employment Survey has long been revered as a key indicator of how the future of employment looks around the world. For over 50 years the organisation has been analysing employment trends across countries, industry sectors and company sizes, and is one of the most trustworthy sources of this type of information globally.
It asked over 59,000 employers one simple question: “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of March 2018 as compared to the current quarter?” and from the replies, accurately predicts employment outlooks for each region and sector.
The future of Australian jobs
It’s interesting to see how the answers change based on the size of the company in question: Micro (between 1 and 9 people), Small (10 to 49), Medium (50 to 249) and Large (250+). In general, the larger the organisation, the more likely they were to increase their total employment soon. Large companies scored 27%, while Micro companies sported a 1% figure.
In Australia, over 1,500 business owners took part in the survey, providing enough sample data to illustrate how employment is changing across the country for the next three months. Overall, 18% of employers forecast an increase, 5% saw a decrease looming, with the remaining 74% saying they had no immediate plans to change their workforce. This meant that overall, the Net Employment Outlook is +13%.
The underlying sentiment is that it’s a good time to be a job seeker in Australia, with a double-digit increase in new employment opportunities in sectors such as Transportation & Utilities, Manufacturing, and Mining & Construction. This suggests that the transport industry, and, anyone using heavy transport trailers, are in good stead for the years to come.
Manufacturing is experiencing its strongest hiring period in over half a decade, which is set to peak in the next quarter. Employers in the sector reported an 11% increase and overall, employment is growing steadily at 7% per year.
With a strong focus on infrastructure projects from the Australian Government, the mining and construction sector has increased employment by 23% in Q1, which is 8% more than the previous quarter. It’s the sectors strongest labour market in six years.
Transportation and utilities will remain stable between January and March, with average hiring opportunities available for job seekers. It’s slightly weaker than the previous year, yet based on previous years, the hiring pattern tends to ramp up mid-year.
Australia, in general, is up 14% compared to the previous survey, which compares favourably with other countries in the region. In fact, Australia’s outlook is the most promising it has been in over five years.
Local growth in transport
As transport trailer manufacturers, we are particularly interested in how employment prospects are looking in Queensland, as they’re a key indicator of business growth. Happily, Queensland is holding steady at 14%, maintaining the national average. This is itself remarkable when you consider that this time last year, the figure was 3% throughout the state.
Meanwhile, in the Northern Territory, the news is not as good: employment prospects are down to 5%. However, on the bright side, this is a significant recovery from previously reported quarters.
As one of the biggest trailer manufacturers in Australia, we’re always looking forward to seeing what the future brings. The Drake Group manufacture custom trailers for any purpose so contact us to see how we can get you moving.
