There were 2.7 million casual workers in August 2022, back above its pre-pandemic level, according to new data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said: “Casual employment was particularly impacted during the first two years of the pandemic, falling by more than half a million workers, down from 2.6 million people to 2.1 million. It wasn’t until the middle of 2022 that we saw it return to its pre-pandemic level.”
The recovery in casual employment was much slower than for other employee jobs.
“In August 2022, the number of people working as casuals in their main job was around 1.5 per cent higher than February 2020. By comparison, the number of employees with paid leave entitlements had risen by 4.9 per cent,” Mr Jarvis said.
“Prior to the COVID period, casuals accounted for around 25 per cent of all employees and this fell to around 21 per cent in May 2020. In August 2022, the share of employees in casual work had risen to 23.5 per cent. This continues to show the slower recovery in some of the hardest hit workforces during the pandemic,” Mr Jarvis said.
| Proportion of all employees (%) (%) | Casual employees (‘000) (‘000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Feb-2018 | 24.7 | 2,577.7 |
| May-2018 | 25.2 | 2,637.6 |
| Aug-2018 | 24.7 | 2,585.8 |
| Nov-2018 | 25.3 | 2,689.3 |
| Feb-2019 | 24.2 | 2,577.4 |
| May-2019 | 25.0 | 2,693.2 |
| Aug-2019 | 24.1 | 2,574.6 |
| Nov-2019 | 24.3 | 2,623.5 |
| Feb-2020 | 24.1 | 2,624.7 |
| May-2020 | 20.6 | 2,084.3 |
| Aug-2020 | 22.1 | 2,310.2 |
| Nov-2020 | 23.0 | 2,476.9 |
| Feb-2021 | 23.0 | 2,498.1 |
| May-2021 | 23.6 | 2,601.8 |
| Aug-2021 | 22.6 | 2,427.9 |
| Nov-2021 | 22.9 | 2,536.4 |
| Feb-2022 | 22.9 | 2,591.2 |
| May-2022 | 23.1 | 2,641.1 |
| Aug-2022 | 23.5 | 2,663.1 |
In addition to information on casual employment, the ABS also released information on other aspects of working arrangements.
“Around 24 per cent of employees indicated their pay varies between pay periods and 21 per cent were not guaranteed a minimum number of hours each week,” Mr Jarvis said.
| 2016 (%) | 2018 (%) | 2020 (%) | 2022 (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No paid leave entitlements (casual workers) | 25.0 | 24.5 | 22.0 | 23.4 |
| Pay varies weekly | 24.7 | 23.6 | 24.0 | 24.3 |
| Does not usually work the same hours each week | 21.1 | 20.7 | 20.1 | 20.4 |
| Not guaranteed minimum hours per week | 19.5 | 19.4 | 20.5 | 20.6 |
The number of employees working on a fixed-term contract fell by 4.0 per cent between August 2021 and August 2022, from 405,000 to 390,000. This fall meant that fixed-term employees accounted for 3.4 per cent of all employees in 2022, down from 3.8 per cent in 2021.
Over the same period, the number of people working as independent contractors in their main job rose 11.6 per cent, from 1 million to 1.1 million. This equated to 8.3 per cent of all employed people in 2022, up from 7.7 per cent in 2021.
