Careers in the hospitality industry are in trouble with job numbers plummeting by 11 per cent in just nine months and not recovering.
In February, before the start of the Covid pandemic, 937,300 were employed in the food and accommodation services sector.
Within three months, the number employed in that industry dived by a third to 643,400 as cafes and restaurants were closed to stop the spread of coronavirus and Australia’s border was closed to tourists, severely curtailing demand for hotels.
Fortnightly JobKeeper wage subsidies of $1,500 a fortnight and government quarantining programs for returned overseas travellers saw job numbers recover to 786,100 by August, after the Covid recession.
As of November, there were 831,900 jobs in the sector, but that number was 11.2 per cent or 105,400 below February’s level of 937,300 when the Australian share market peaked and Australians could still travel freely around the country and overseas.
Careers in the hospitality industry are in trouble with job numbers plummeting by 11 per cent in just nine months and not recovering
A Daily Mail Australia analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics quarterly labour force data showed the sector covering cafes, restaurants and hotels was by far the worst affected, when seasonally-adjusted figures were taken into account.
The ad hoc resumption of state border closures, lockdowns and social distancing rules also threaten the fragile industry, with JobKeeper wage subsidies, now at $1,000 a fortnight for those putting in 20 hours or more a week, ending on March 28.
In percentage terms, the media, information technology and telecommunications sector was the second worst affected as Covid shutdowns saw advertisers spend less with news websites, newspapers, radio and television stations.
The number of jobs in this sector fell from 216,300 to 195,500 with the 20,800 drop in positions representing a 9.6 per cent decline in employment.
Manufacturing is also struggling with job numbers plunging from 922,400 in February to 848,100 in November with the 74,300 gap marking an 8.1 per cent plunge in employment.
The rental, hiring and real estate services sector also hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with job numbers falling from 219,700 to 209,100, with this 10,600 drop marking a 4.8 per cent decline.
A Daily Mail Australia analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics quarterly labour force data showed the sector covering cafes, restaurants and hotels was by far the worst affected, when seasonally-adjusted figures were taken into account
As of November (Melbourne diners pictured), there were 831,900 jobs in the sector, but that number was 11.2 per cent or 105,400 below February’s level of 937,300 when the Australian share market peaked and Australians could still travel freely around the country and overseas
The wholesale trade sector also shed positions with job numbers during that nine-month period falling from 390,500 to 372,600 with that 17,600 gap representing a 4.6 per cent fall.
Education and training jobs dropped by 2.7 per cent, or 30,100, as positions fell from 1,124,500 in February to 1,094,400 in November.
Transport and warehousing also shed jobs but the 900 gap between the 648,000 employed in February and the 647,100 with a job in November marked a minuscule 0.1 per cent decrease.
Despite the steepest economic downturn since the 1930s, some sectors in fact added jobs. Retail jobs climbed by 43,600 from 1,244,100 in February to 1,287,700 in November, with employment numbers rising by 3.5 per cent despite being subjected to strict Covid measures, including a three-month lockdown in Melbourne that stricted shoppers to supermarkets and chemists. Pictured are shoppers at Chadstone in Melbourne’s south-east in November
Despite the steepest economic downturn since the 1930s, some sectors in fact added jobs.
Retail jobs climbed by 43,600 from 1,244,100 in February to 1,287,700 in November, with employment numbers rising by 3.5 per cent despite being subjected to strict Covid measures, including a three-month lockdown in Melbourne that stricted shoppers to supermarkets and chemists.
Public service job numbers have climbed too the number of people employed in the public administration and safety sector rising by 6.8 per cent, or 56,400, from 824,100 to 880,500.
