SEPTEMBER 2026 UPDATE:
SEEK Job Ads Edge Higher.
Our September SEEK Job Ads Report gives us an interesting picture this month.
Month-on-month, there are encouraging signs. But look back twelve months and the picture isn’t quite as positive.
Our September point-in-time snapshot recorded 50,841 advertised roles across the key employment categories we track.
That’s up from 49,344 in August – an increase of approximately 3.0%.
It follows August’s much stronger 8.2% increase and means the combined number of advertised roles we’re tracking has now risen for a second consecutive month.
But this month’s report also shows why it’s important to look beyond one headline number.
September continues the recent improvement.
Looking at the overall movement across our key categories:
June 46,250 → July 45,622 → August 49,344 → September 50,841
From July’s low point, the number of advertised roles we’re tracking has increased by 5,219 – approximately 11.4% in two months.
That’s certainly worth noting.
August gave us a significant increase, with all eight categories moving upwards. At the time, we said one stronger month wasn’t enough to call a new trend.
September has now provided the next piece of the picture:
– the overall increase hasn’t immediately reversed.
Our September Snapshot
Across the eight key employment categories we track, our September point-in-time snapshot recorded:
- Accounting: 6,123
- Administration & Office Support: 7,643
- Legal: 2,391
- Human Resources: 2,986
- Information & Communication Technology: 7,336
- CEO / General Management: 520
- Sales: 7,118
- Manufacturing & Transport: 16,724
But the month-on-month improvement is only one part of September’s story.
To put those numbers into context, we also looked at where the same categories stood this time last year.
So how does September compare with last year?
This is where the picture becomes more mixed.
While the combined number of roles we’re tracking has continued to improve month-on-month, several individual categories remain below the advertising levels recorded in September 2025.
Manufacturing & Transport stands out strongly in the other direction, with considerably more advertised roles in our September 2026 snapshot than at the same time last year.
Human Resources is also ahead of its corresponding 2025 level, while the remaining comparisons are softer or around similar levels.
So there are really two sides to September’s result:
Recent momentum has improved – but that doesn’t mean every part of the market is stronger than it was twelve months ago.
That’s an important distinction.
Encouraging – but we’re still cautious
Two consecutive monthly increases give us more to consider than August’s result in isolation.
But they still aren’t enough for us to declare a broad employment-market recovery.
Different categories are behaving differently, and the strength we’re seeing in Manufacturing & Transport is making an important contribution to the overall number.
So, for now, we’d describe what we’re seeing as:
– improving month-on-month momentum within a still-mixed employment market.
What is the wider employment market telling us?
SEEK job-ad volumes are one indicator of what’s happening in the market, but we also look at established external data which helps keep the bigger picture into context.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force data currently available puts Australia’s unemployment rate at 4.5% in July 2026. Seasonally adjusted employment fell by around 16,000 people during the month, while the underemployment rate was 6.4%.
There’s another side to the recruitment market too
Job-ad numbers tell us something about the opportunities being advertised.
They don’t tell us how easy those vacancies are to fill.
Jobs and Skills Australia’s Survey of Employers who have Recently Advertised provides a particularly interesting additional perspective.
In its March quarter 2026 data, employers reported an average 21.5 applicants per vacancy.
But only 8.3 were considered qualified and 5.2 suitable, while the vacancy fill rate was 68.2%.
That’s a considerable difference.
More applicants don’t necessarily mean easier recruitment.
A larger applicant pool may give employers more people to consider, but it can also mean more resumes to review, more screening and more work identifying the candidates who genuinely have the experience, capability, motivation and fit the business needs.
It’s an issue worth looking at in its own right – and one we’ll come back to separately.
What does September mean for employers?
There are encouraging signs in the recent movement, but the figures don’t suggest employers should assume recruitment has suddenly become easier.
The experience can be very different depending on what you’re recruiting for.
What’s happening in Manufacturing & Transport isn’t necessarily what’s happening in Accounting, Sales, ICT or Administration.
And even where applicant numbers are high, candidate availability isn’t the same thing as candidate suitability.
For employers, understanding the particular market you’re recruiting into – and properly identifying and assessing the right people within it – remains much more useful than relying on a general headline saying the employment market is simply “up” or “down”.
What does September mean for jobseekers?
Overall, we’re tracking more advertised opportunities across our eight categories than we were in July and August.
But again, your particular employment area matters.
The year-on-year comparison shows that opportunities haven’t strengthened equally across every category.
And in a market where employers may be receiving plenty of applications, simply applying for more roles isn’t necessarily what will make the difference.
A relevant application that clearly demonstrates why you’re suited to the particular opportunity remains important.
What we’ll be watching next
September has answered one of the questions we asked last month.
August’s increase wasn’t immediately reversed – but the comparison with September last year also reminds us why we need to remain cautious about calling a wider recovery.
We’ll take the same point-in-time snapshot again in October to see whether the recent improvement continues, stabilises or changes direction – and whether it starts to show more consistently across the individual employment categories we track.
We’ll also continue to consider SEEK’s own reporting, Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS data and other credible employment-market information where it helps present and understand the wider picture.
Because one number rarely tells the whole recruitment story.