There's a glimmer of hope for job seekers: after a 12-month slump, Australian job ads have finally ticked up, with SEEK's latest data showing an increase in August - a promising sign that the labour market might be starting to stabilize.
Job ads increased 0.5% month on month, ending a run of consistent declines. The annual rate of decline also slowed, to 4.5%, down from 5.2% over the prior two months.
SEEK Chief Economist Dr Blair Chapman says the rise was broad-based. "For the first time since mid-2025, demand for workers rose modestly, with broad-based growth in Victoria the major contributor."
Hospitality leads the turnaround
The standout mover was hospitality. "The large hiring industries of Trades & Services, Healthcare & Medical and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics all posted solid monthly gains nationally, but it was the 3.6% jump in Hospitality & Tourism ad volumes that really moved the dial," Chapman says.
He points out the rise isn't simply seasonal. "As our data is seasonally adjusted, the significant rise in Hospitality & Tourism demonstrates unexpectedly high demand, over and above what we would expect at this time of year as venues look toward the warmer months."
Within the sector, demand for Waiting Staff rose 11% quarter on quarter, Front Office & Guest Services Staff climbed 7%, and Chefs and Cooks rose 6%.
Ads rise, but so does competition
Businesses hiring shouldn't expect the jobseeker pool to necessarily loosen alongside the uptick in ads. "Even as job ads turn around, applications per ad have not fallen. They rose again month-on-month to peak levels, highlighting the continued fierce level of competition for the jobs on offer," Chapman says.
The recovery wasn't uniform. Victoria led all states with a 1.1% monthly rise, its sharpest growth in over four years, while New South Wales recorded its largest monthly increase since mid-2022, at 0.6%. Tasmania rose 0.7%. Western Australia was the only state to post annual growth, up 1.8% year on year, driven by Mining, Resources & Energy (13.0%) and Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (11.2%).
The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory continued to decline, down 0.4% and 0.1% respectively, while Queensland and South Australia were flat month on month.
Industry trends told a similarly mixed story. Trades & Services and Healthcare & Medical both posted solid monthly gains. Within Professional Services and the public sector, most industries fell, though Banking & Financial Services, Human Resources & Recruitment and Marketing & Communications bucked the trend. Accounting and Education & Training recorded the largest monthly declines.
Annual growth remained concentrated in industrial and construction-linked sectors, with Engineering up 14.3% year on year, Mining, Resources & Energy up 11.6%, and Construction up 10.7%.
AI skills demand keeps climbing
Demand for AI-related skills continued its steep climb, up 3.9% month on month and 66.2% year on year, though Chapman notes the pace has eased somewhat from the 88.0% annual growth recorded in January. AI-related skills now appear in 2.3% of all job ads nationally, and 3.0% in New South Wales.
Within that, agentic AI and AI ethics and governance skills are growing fastest. "Separately, demand for AI-related skills also continues to rise, with Agentic AI and Ethics and Governance skills both more than doubling year-on-year," Chapman says. Agentic AI skills grew 185.3% year on year, and AI Ethics & Governance skills rose 153.6%.
Chapman notes that job ad decline has been steepest in roles most exposed to automation. Occupations with high automation exposure scores saw ad volumes fall 12.3% year on year, compared to just 1.8% for low-exposure roles such as bakers, travel attendants and florists, occupations that tend to involve manual or technical tasks not easily automated.
Wages hold steady above inflation
Separately, SEEK's Advertised Salary Index shows advertised salaries grew 4.2% annually in August, unchanged from the prior month, though monthly growth eased slightly to 0.3% after accelerating through June and July.
Chapman says the wage growth has held up despite a softening broader labour market. "Annual advertised salary growth remained steady at 4.2% year-on-year in August, outpacing headline inflation of 3.5% in July. Advertised salary growth has been relatively robust over the past year, even though the unemployment and underemployment rates have been trending up, and employment growth has been slowing."
He also flags a shift in worker behaviour. "Despite the growth in advertised salaries, the job switching rate declined between 2025 and 2026, suggesting that workers may be hesitant to change jobs in the current environment."
For SME owners, the combination points to a market where hiring may be marginally easier than it has been in over a year, but wage expectations and jobseeker competition both remain elevated, meaning cheaper or faster hiring isn't necessarily on the cards yet.