Jobs for Townsville

REGION CRIES OUT FOR WORKERS AS INDUSTRY POWERS UP

As reported in the Townsville Bulletin – The Townsville region’s job market is roaring along at a level not seen in almost a decade. Analysing May’s jobs figures, economist Colin Dwyer said the total number of workers employed around the Townsville region rose to 112,900 – the largest workforce recorded since November 2013.

The 12-month unemployment rate dropped to 6 per cent and was expected to fall further over the coming six to 18 months. The region’s participation rate had also risen to 64.7 per cent. “Townsville hasn’t seen these workforce conditions for a long time,” Mr Dwyer said.

“The region’s unemployment rate and job numbers are positive and leading indicators are strong. Almost half of Townsville region’s suburbs are performing at or near traditional full employment.”

Referring to more recent figures, Mr Dwyer said Townsville’s overall live job vacancies were 1620 – an increase of 1.9 percent on last week. New vacancies for the past seven days were 463 – up from 456 last week. Of those vacancies, Mr. Dwyer said the largest increases were in the fields of real estate, accounting, and customer service.

He said despite the good news, the region faced a number of chall e n g e s , including skills deficits, rising wages (particularly in cons t r u c t i o n ) , housing the potential construction workforce for the region’s upcoming large-scale projects and the costs and shifted focus associated with the Brisbane Olympics bid.

TP Human Capital director Clayton Cook said May’s jobs figures were influenced by several factors including events at QCB Stadium, civil and residential construction, strong business confidence, lower interest rates and better disposable household incomes.

“Townsville region has a diversified job ads profile and the second half of 2021 looks busy,” he said. “(The) recent state budget could support 3200 jobs across the region in a variety of public projects.

“There are also many private projects such as casino expansion, Genex and Agripower projects, which are crucial to creating meaningful … jobs.”

Find out more about current vacancies by visiting TP Human Capital’s website.