Unemployment is spiking throughout the country as hundreds of thousands of workers in all walks of life are laid off and the full economic effects of COVID-19 hit home.
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However, going against the grain, the pandemic has also created unprecedented demands in certain fields such as healthcare, IT, call centres and financial services.
COVID-19 has driven the need for nurses and support workers in healthcare and related jobs such as warehouse operatives, transport and delivery drivers, and manufacturing in medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.
Recruiting agents Hays Australia's managing director Nick Deligiannis said the company was seeing a strong volume of jobs in these fields due to the current environment.
"Employers are on the lookout for skilled and experienced professionals," Mr Deligiannis said.
"Supermarkets still need people for customer service and shelf-stocking roles, and there's a big need in soft services for cleaners," he said.
"As a consequence of self-isolating and restricted movement, telephone-based hotline call centre staff are also in demand right now."
As a consequence of self-isolating and restricted movement, telephone-based hotline call centre staff are also in demand right now.
- Hays Australia's managing director Nick Deligiannis
With the majority of employees working remotely and business directing more and more of its services online IT is another active area of the job market
"We're looking for people with relevant skills and experience to fill these jobs in both major cities and regional locations," Mr Deligiannis said.
"These industries are active across the country."
With unemployment expected to reach 12% by mid-year as the full effects on businesses and industry going into hibernation is felt, government services are experiencing unprecedented demand.
Services Australia and Centrelink will gain an extra 5000 workers to help deliver new support measures for disadvantaged Australians during the pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the boost in staff numbers, as part of the government's stimulus packages to support the economy.
The extra workers will help deliver a temporary coronavirus supplement for welfare recipients who will lose their jobs over the coming weeks, as non-essential services shut down across the country.
A spokesperson for Coles said that within the past month, they had recruited more than 10,000 people to meet customer demand while providing much-needed employment opportunities at a time when many Australians are urgently seeking work.
The new recruits have been fast-tracked into various roles - from casual and part-time positions to management positions - at Coles supermarkets and liquor stores across Australia.
Many of the new employees had been forced to stand down from their former jobs as industries such as travel, sport, fitness and hospitality fell victim to the imposed restrictions on movement and gatherings.
Coles are recruiting an additional 2000 positions across the country.
There's a wide range of roles available including about 1000 casual and part-time positions to serve customers and replenish shelves in supermarkets and liquor stores, 600 customer service agents to deliver orders to Coles' online customers, and about 230 management positions and 40 qualified bakers for in-store bakeries.
Domino's have ramped up their services to cater for the unprecedented demand for home delivery. They have employed an additional 2000 people to help deliver meals to the community during the crisis.
Domino's Job website remains open with available positions at each store.
A Domino's spokesperson said the company would continue to look for ways to provide employment for those looking for work for as long as they were open and it is safe to do so.
Woolworths announced they were looking to hire up to 20,000 new staff this month to meet demand caused by coronavirus panic buying.
The supermarket chain is filling roles across its supermarkets and related businesses.
The company is looking for staff to help take the pressure off dealing with the increase in online orders.
Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said the supermarket's immediate focus was to redeploy employees of the ALH group who lost their jobs due to bar closures. About 3000 of these workers have been given roles in the group's bottle shops and supermarkets.
"We're also preparing to offer up to 5000 short-term roles to Qantas Group employees taking leave without pay, including more than 1500 in our distribution centres," Mr Banducci said.
Seek Employment's general manager Kendra Banks said job ads were down 68.6% compared to the same week last year with Victoria and NSW showing the biggest declines in the past week with job ads down 75.1% and 70.0% respectively. Queensland was down by 65.4%.
Against this trend roles in call centres and customer service have seen a huge increase in demand.
"We know first-time jobseekers and those who have been displaced from work, value roles that don't require specific qualifications or experience and which they can quickly start.
"When you combine this with the ability to work from home there are a huge number of people who these jobs appeal to right now," Ms Banks said.
According to LinkedIn data Telstra and Datacom are each hiring 1,000 people across the country. While Serco is hiring 1,500 people across Australia.
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