Staley – Job vacancies plummet in Victoria due to second wave

Liberal Party Victoria

Job vacancies plummet in Victoria due to the second wave

The latestlabour market numbers show that Victoria was the only state to suffer a fall in total job advertisements in July, as the second wave of COVID-19 hit the state.

According to the National Skills Commission, while every other state had an increase in job advertisements in July, Victoria’s fell by 1,900. Notably, New South Wales saw an increase of 6,200 job advertisements over the month. Therefore, while Victorians job opportunities fell 6.5 per cent, for those north of the border they rose 16.1 per cent.

The reduction in jobs available for Victorians was before the Stage 4 restrictions were imposed on metropolitan Melbourne due to the second wave caused by Labor’s bungling of the hotel quarantine program.

Overall in 2020, Victoria has suffered a 41 per cent drop in job advertisements.

This means fewer opportunities to get back to work for the over 145,000 Victorians who have lost their job since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As stated by Shadow Treasurer, Louise Staley:

“These latest job advertisement figures are just another blow to Victorians struggling to look for work. With NSW job opportunities growing so strongly, by comparison, no wonder the reports of Victorians trying to move interstate are growing.

“The Victorian economy, already in recession before the COVID-19 outbreak, is now suffering from a collapse in the job market like no other state in Australia.

“Labor bungled the economy, then bungled the hotel quarantine program, and Victorians looking for work are the ones who are bearing the brunt of this incompetence.”

/Public Release. View in full here.