According to a quarterly report on employment trends by recruitment firm Hudson, net hiring intentions fell by 2.0 percentage points since last quarter to 15.1 per cent overall, however climbed to 19.9 per cent in financial services.
“The Hudson Report continues to point to changing dynamics in the hiring intentions of employers, with positive conditions in financial professional services counterbalancing weaker conditions across sectors such as resources and mining,” Hudson executive general manager Dean Davidson said.
The report found that of those employers surveyed, 1 in 4 are planning to increase hiring in the quarter ahead, while only 1 in 10 plan to reduce permanent staff numbers.
Queensland has the highest hiring intentions across all states, with a net 19.5 per cent of hiring managers looking to increase permanent headcount in the next quarter – up 7.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
Hiring intentions in New South Wales also remains strong with a net 18.3 per cent of hiring managers looking to increase staff numbers.
Other parts of the country showed stable hiring intentions with a net 17.1 per cent of hiring managers in Victoria looking to increase staff numbers, a net 11.4 per cent in South Australia and a net 10.2 per cent in the ACT.
Hiring intentions in Western Australia fell short compared to the other states, with a net 4.6 per cent of hiring managers looking to increase staff numbers.