JOB OUTLOOK

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has recently published a report on job prospects in Australia for the next five years. This research covers industry employment trends, jobs with good prospects, key industries and skill shortages across Australia. This article will highlight some of that information looking not only in general terms across a range of sectors but also at the prospects for Architects and those working within the construction and property industries.

Employment growth in Property & Construction Sectors

Whilst the job market within the Architectural and Interior Design sectors seems to have been stopping and starting recently, the signs for the long term future look much more promising. This recent slow down may be due to the upcoming election and confidence levels within the broader business community. The general feeling seems to be that as the election result will be the closest for many years, Corporate Australia is waiting to see the outcome before committing to projects.

So while employment growth is fuelled by many factors, including elections, new technology and international trade, its strongest influence is economic growth. Australia’s relatively strong economic status in the last couple of years is reflected in the fact that 885,100 new jobs were created in Australia in the five years to February 2004. More interestingly, four industries accounted for two in three of these new jobs. Those industries were:

Construction
Property and Business Services
Health and Community Services
Retail Trade

This is good news for the architectural sector as Construction saw employment grow by 139,000 and Property and Business Services increased by a further 176,500. Traditionally, employment in the construction industry tends to fluctuate, however the long-term prediction is for prolonged growth. Employment level increases in Property and Business Services are also set to continue. This growing confidence is further evidenced by the fact that overseas vacancies are also on the up, not only for overseas companies but also for Australian companies that are branching out.

Growth Industries

Hospitality and Retail are also highlighted as significant growth industries. Employment in the Retail industry has grown by 10.3% over the last 5 years with a 2.0% p.a. growth predicted for the next five. Accommodation and Hospitality increased by an impressive 14.9% between 1999 and 2004 and is estimated to increase by 2.4% pa to 2011. This past and predicted employment growth signals an encouraging future for these sectors which will invariably have a knock-on effect for Architectural practices with expertise in these areas.

Good prospects for Architects

In the new report issued by DEWR they state that ‘good prospects’ exist for Architects in Australia. The report also includes the Skilled Vacancies Index, which is an indicator of change in demand for skilled occupations, based on a monthly count of job advertisements in selected capital city newspapers. Overall skilled vacancies rose by 7.6% in the year to May 2004. During the same time period there was on average 62 architectural vacancies being advertised on a weekly basis. Furthermore according to the Job Prospects Matrix, Architects have good job prospects for the next 5 years and future employment growth is expected to experience ‘moderate growth’.

The Future

Overall the future is looking bright for architecture and design. The employment growth that Australia has experienced over the last 5 years looks set to continue into the next five, covering the key industries of Construction, Property, Retail and Hospitality. So while the current market remains a little sluggish, the long-term picture is encouraging. In addition, with an election announced for 9 October, job market activity may increase sooner than expected.

NB: the contents of this article have been gathered from several sources and are an interpretation. Persons requiring more details should refer directly to the DEWR Job Outlook which can be found on http://www.workplace.gov.au