Reports of interest returning to the job market has left a recruiter bewildered, shaking her head and wondering where are all these people?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Kristy Madaffari is Branch Manager for Chandler MacLeod Group, a recruitment job employment agency.
Ever since the introduction of the JobSeeker payments, she said her company has had very little interest from people looking for work.
A breakdown of the June figures show there were roughly 23 people on JobSeeker for every single job available in the region.
And while the stats indicate the first drop in the number of people on the government supplement since its implementation, Ms Madaffari says that hasn't translated to more interest.
"No - less, in fact. Far less applications. I haven't seen that [interest] at all," she explained.
"There is certainly jobs there, but no interest."
Running the business from Taree on the NSW Mid North Coast, right up to Tweed Heads and all of New England to the Queensland border, she can see the issue is the same at the regional level.
"What we are still finding in the market is that there are people that are fortunate enough to be buffered with the JobSeeker," she explained.
"At this point if they so choose to stay on those payments, it takes them out of the market for roles that are available right now."
As a small example, the group has two jobs on the website Seek for Tamworth positions which have been there for over two weeks.
But more positions have come up since with more available across the region. They have more work than they can fill.
"It is definitely not an easy market at the moment," she said.
"And when I say that, it comes from a recruiters perspective."
A drop of 117 people off the scheme from was heralded by some, like NSW regional manager Joe Townsend, as a change for the better.
"It was definitely the sentiment that individuals didn't want to return to work," he said when the figures were released.
Businesses had reported to him that they had seen a turn for the better in people's interest in taking up job opportunities.
Ms Madaffari said with what they do, there will always be opportunities for people looking for work.
"On the flip side, there are genuine job seekers who may be having trouble finding work and don't think to put their resume in with a job agency."
