JOB MARKET UPDATE – May 2025
Job Market Snapshot Continues To Slump
The job market took a further dip in May 2025, with SEEK job ads declining across nearly every major category compared to April. This marks a continuing drop for most sectors, suggesting a recovery may still be stalling.
Key Month-on-Month Trends (Apr–May 2025):
- Accounting: Down 14% to 5,304 roles – a steady decline from March’s 6,326.
- Admin & Office Support: Dropped by 16% to 7,078 ads, reflecting a significant cooling in clerical hiring.
- ICT: Fell 18% from April to 6,650 – the largest month-on-month drop among white-collar sectors.
- Sales: Slipped again to 5,814 ads, continuing a gradual decline that may partly reflect advertising shifting to other platforms like LinkedIn.
- Legal & HR: Both down ~15%, with Legal posting just 2,233 roles – the lowest since before May 2024.
Manufacturing & Transport continues to post strong volumes (11,629), although this is still a decline from April’s, it’s worth noting that this category wasn’t tracked in May 2024 data, so growth here reflects more of a recent tracking inclusion than a true surge.
Year-on-Year Trends (May 2024 vs. May 2025):
- Accounting: -11%
- Legal: -14%
- ICT: -1%
- CEO/GM roles: -23%, continuing a long-term decline
- Sales: +4% vs. last May, despite recent drops
- Admin: -11% YoY, showing similar slippage
- HR: Roughly flat (2,629 now vs. 2,637 a year ago)
Final Thoughts:
May 2025 data signals a broader market slowdown after early-year optimism. Categories like ICT, Accounting, and Admin are seeing consistent declines, while even resilient areas like Manufacturing & Transport appear to be cooling off.
With months of downward trends, employers and jobseekers alike should watch June figures closely. Are we heading for a mid-year plateau—or experiencing a continued lull?
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