🇦🇺 Employment & Labour Market Update: October 2025

Australia’s employment landscape is shifting, with new data revealing a softening in job vacancies, steady unemployment, and signs of structural changes in where future work is emerging.

1. Job vacancies decline

Job vacancies fell by 2.7 % in the August quarter, led by weaker demand in the private sector. While this marks a slowdown, vacancy levels remain significantly above pre-pandemic averages, suggesting underlying labour demand is still comparatively strong.

2. Labour force & unemployment (August 2025)

Labour Force Survey data shows mixed results across key indicators:

• Unemployment (trend): edged up to 4.3 %, with total employment climbing to about 14.64 million people.

• Unemployment (seasonally adjusted): steady at 4.2 %, though full-time roles dipped slightly as part-time work picked up.

• Underemployment: held at 5.8 %, highlighting persistent challenges for workers seeking more hours.

• Participation rate: remained steady at 66.9 %, pointing to ongoing high engagement in the labour market.

3. Sectoral pressures, redundancies & disputes

Several high-profile cases highlight tensions across industries:

• Banking: The Commonwealth Bank confirmed that among ~283 redundancies, at least two roles were offshored to India. The bank later removed 30 Indian job listings that mirrored the cut Australian positions.

• Engineering: Around 500 transport engineers in Queensland have gone on strike, demanding a 15 % wage rise and warning of delays to Olympic-related infrastructure projects.

• Resources: Some coal and mining firms announced job losses, with executives criticising royalty and regulatory regimes for squeezing operations.

4. Shifts in job creation

Fresh labour force data points to a structural change in the types of roles being created. Nearly half of new jobs in the past year were in occupations requiring VET qualifications or practical experience, rather than traditional university degrees. This trend underscores the growing importance of vocational pathways in meeting Australia’s workforce needs.