Australia's labour market and the interests of employers and employees are seriously misaligned, according to a study by a leading jobs website.
The study by global employment agency Indeed found job opportunities and job seekers were aligned only about half the time, and the mismatch in Australia was much higher than in comparable countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Indeed Asia-Pacific economist Callam Pickering said the changing mix in jobs could lead to skills shortages, with the mismatches between job opportunities and job seekers harming both businesses and job seekers alike.
"Businesses may lower expectations for skills or experience, while job seekers might accept positions that fail to fully utilise their skills or education," he said.
"Australia struggles with mismatch more than other advanced economies.
"Australia's labour market is evolving, with the job mix 22 per cent different in December 2018 than in January 2014."
While the shift in Australia's job mix comes as no surprise, one of the interesting findings thrown up by the study is that many traditional blue collar jobs — such as fitters, forklift drivers, diesel mechanics and boilermakers — are among the fastest growing occupations.
The hospitality sector faces the sharpest decline in the share of opportunities, with servers, chefs and baristas all finding it comparatively tougher to find a job opening.
"When we think about Australia's evolving labour market, we often focus on cutting-edge occupations in the tech sector, such as data scientist," Mr Pickering said.
"And it's true that some tech jobs, such as full stack developer and net developer, are strong contributors to Australia's shifting job mix.
"Nevertheless, more traditional occupations are driving the changes in Australia's job mix."
Top contributions to jobs mix changes
| Rank | Growing share | Shrinking share |
| 1 | Fitter | Server |
| 2 | Forklift operator | Chef |
| 3 | Registered nurse | Cleaner |
| 4 | Occupational therapist | Barista |
| 5 | Full stack developer | Payroll officer |
| 6 | Electrician | Recruitment consultant |
| 7 | Disability support worker | Sales representative |
| 8 | Diesel mechanic | Team member |
| 9 | Physiotherapist | Sales consultant |
| 10 | Boilermaker | Accounts payable clerk |
(Comparing job postings in Dec 2014 with Dec 2018) Source: Indeed
Mismatch related to weak jobs market
Measuring the mismatch in jobs — comparing the titles of active job seekers' current resumes with the titles of Australian job postings — found about half of those looking for work would need different titles on their resumes in order to balance out postings from employers.
On Indeed's global research, the mismatch in Australia was much higher than in comparable countries.
"It is around one third in the United States, less than one third in Canada and 40 per cent in the United Kingdom," Mr Pickering said.
"Labour market slack in Australia is currently higher than in those countries, suggesting that higher mismatch might be associated with greater job market weakness."
Common measures of labour market slackness such as underemployment — those in work but looking for more hours — and the underutilisation rate, where unemployment and underemployment rates are combined, are near historic highs.
Almost 14 per cent of Australians looking for work are classified as underutilised, about double the rate of the US.
Typically it is harder to find a business development manager, fitter or teacher than a cleaner, sales assistant or labourer.
Top contributors to mismatch
| Rank | Resume share > posting share | Posting share > resume share |
| 1 | Customer service representative | Business development manager |
| 2 | Cleaner | Physiotherapist |
| 3 | Server | Occupational therapist |
| 4 | Kitchen team member | Project manager |
| 5 | Sales assistant | Fitter |
| 6 | Labourer | Classroom teacher |
| 7 | Packer | Store manager |
| 8 | Retail sales associate | Recruitment consultant |
| 9 | Crew member | Elder care assistant |
| 10 | Barista | Business analyst |
(Comparing job seeker resumes with job posting in Dec 2018) Source: Indeed
Overseas workers look for skilled jobs
Mr Pickering said the jobs with the greatest gap between posting and resume share tended to be those with higher educational requirements.
"Occupations for which posting share exceeds resume share are typically higher-skilled," he said.
Those skilled occupations generally generate more interest from overseas job seekers, while skilled Australian job seekers appear more likely to search abroad for work, according to the research.
"Job seekers from abroad are less interested in occupations with lower educational requirements, where competition from domestic job seekers is greatest," Mr Pickering said.
"Searches from outside Australia mitigate mismatch between opportunities and local talent.
"For Australia, the key question is whether those job seekers can get a skilled visa. The hurdles to gaining a visa are higher now than they were a few years ago."
