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‘Tremendous opportunities’: 5 areas Aussies can find work

A still from the movie The Imitation Game, where Benedict Cumberbatch plays British mathematician, Alan Turing. Alan (Benedict) is seen in front of the cryptography machine.
‘Tremendous opportunities’: 5 areas Aussies can find work. Source: NY Times

The finance and insurance industries have been desperate for Aussie workers in 2020, with this sector posting the largest yearly increase in employment, new data reveals.

More than 50,000 more Aussies were needed in that industry as of May this year, which is an increase of 12 per cent when compared to last year.

Second is the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, which employed a further 26,900 Aussies compared to last year - or an increase of 8 per cent.

Electricity, gas, water and waste services employed 168,500 Aussies as of May this year, or an increase of 8,700 (5 per cent) on last year. Unsurprisingly, the healthcare and social assistance industry employed 1.73 million Aussies as of May - a further 53,100 (3 per cent) than May last year.

The public administration and safety sector needed a further 14,800 Australians as of May this year, rounding out the top five industries for the largest increase in employment.

“The pandemic has been tough for many Australians, as we’ve seen over 800,000 jobs lost from February to May this year,” Finder co-founder, Fred Schebesta said.

“Fortunately, not every industry is suffering and there are tremendous opportunities in some areas that are thriving in the pandemic.

“For instance, we’ve seen a boom in employment for electricity, gas, water and waste services with 32,400 new jobs. The growth is primarily due to the consumption of these services increasing dramatically during Covid-19 as people stay indoors.”

Which job markets will boom post-Covid?

Coming out of the pandemic, Finder predicts the public administration and safety industry to boom as the “new normal” of public order and safety services caused by the pandemic has a “lasting effect” on the industry.

Professional, scientific and technical services will also boom, primarily because work-life and travel has permanently changed due to Covid-19. For example, with the majority of Aussies now working from home in some capacity, demand for tech transformation like video conferencing platforms has increased significantly.

E-commerce is also touted to boom as Aussies are forced to shop online. Schebesta said despite the lull in retail, 4,900 more jobs were added to the e-commerce industry compared to May last year.

“We’re also seeing a higher number of new businesses being registered. Australians are looking for new ways to earn a living and it’s great to see people taking the leap and starting a business or trying something new,” Schebesta said.

“For businesses, it’s a great opportunity to hire new people. There are lots of talented people out there who are very motivated and hungry to level up, find new opportunities that they can excel at and they’re prepared to do something new, which is exciting for businesses.”

Unemployment falls in September

The data emerges as the unemployment rate fell to 6.8 per cent across the month of August, marking a decrease of 0.7 per cent on the July unemployment rate.

It means a further 111,000 jobs were added during the month, despite Victoria’s second Covid-19 wave and lockdown extension.

The unemployment rate did however lift to 7.1 per cent in Victoria in August, while South Australia remained the state with the highest unemployment rate at 7.9 per cent.

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