Massive Subway queue exposes urgent Australian job trend as numbers hit record levels: 'So difficult'
Australians are being warned about the current job market, with applications for each role hitting record levels. This was laid bare in a recent video where dozens of people were seen lining up for a job interview at a Subway restaurant in Melbourne.
Career coach Leah Lambart told Yahoo Finance this wasn't an issue confined to retail, hospitality, and admin jobs, and she's seeing it in white-collar sectors as well. She warned that it's incredibly competitive across the board at the moment.
"I think the cost of living is definitely contributing to that, where people are perhaps looking for second jobs and trying to earn more money," she said.
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SEEK's June employment report confirmed this reality, which showed that the number of job listings had fallen 0.7 per cent month-on-month and 5.3 per cent year-on-year.
That comes as the number of applications per job has risen 2.3 per cent month-on-month.
According to the job platform, this is the highest number of applications per job on record, and surpasses the level set during the pandemic when roles were scarce.
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SEEK senior economist Blair Chapman echoed Lambart's assessment of how the job market was being squeezed partly due to economic conditions.
"This rise [in applications per job] is due to an increased candidate pool, rather than candidates applying for more roles," he said.
“Over the past couple of years more Australians have taken on a second job, or are looking to do so, and more workers have entered or re-entered the workforce. This is likely in response to increased living costs, and as a result, competition is extremely strong for most available roles.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are 963,100 workers with multiple jobs in the country, which represents 6.5 per cent of employed people.
Subway queue highlights grim job trend in Australia
A German international student discovered how hard it is to get an entry-level role in Australia when she applied for a team worker role at a Subway restaurant.
She was shocked when she arrived at the Melbourne restaurant ready for her job interview, only to find at least 25 people waiting in front of her to do the same thing.
The student filmed the sea of people standing outside the fast food store, many of whom had their CVs safely clutched in their hands.