Labour market favours jobseekers, despite drop in job listings - report

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The labour market is expected to remain tight over the remainder of the year, despite a drop in job growth.

Research from recruitment software provider JobAdder, shows a 14 percent quarterly drop in the average number of new jobs created per recruiting agency for the three months ending December.

It says this year could be the golden age of recruitment - meaning a tidal wave of people looking to apply or recruit for jobs.

JobAdder chief executive Martin Herbst said the market continued to favour job seekers.

"Right now it is a candidates market and other things need to give in terms of being able to fill those jobs and that's where even more attractive offers are be put out there, [from] an anecdotal perspective, what we're hearing back in the market from our customers is there are counter offers that are happening and likely upward push on wages."

He said while there may be slight drops in activity, the report demonstrated the year-on-year differences the pandemic had made to recruiting.

"This rings especially true when it comes to continued widespread candidate shortages, changing career priorities and remote work advancements."

Herbst said the rest of the year would likely continue to see "plentiful" jobs being offered.

"If you think of the macro trends in terms of how much demand there is for employment and the new jobs being created relative to the number of people available for those jobs, there is a clear mismatch."

He said there was no near term massive economic changes on the horizon that could change that.

Herbst said rising interest rates and soaring inflation could cause some impact but compared to pre-pandemic levels, the job market remained strong.

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