JOBS QUADRANT

The Jobs quadrant provides data on the number of jobs, both filled and vacant. Estimates from business surveys are balanced with estimates from household surveys.

Figure 6: Jobs Quadrant, Identity Relationship Diagram



JOBS CONCEPTS

A Job

The concept of a “job” is central to the Australian Labour Account. It is the mechanism through which people engage in production.

The Oxford English Dictionary has multiple meanings for the word, one of which approximates the concept as it is applied in the Australian Labour Account and the 2008 SNA – “a task or piece of work, especially one that is paid”.

The 2008 SNA does not explicitly define a job. Rather, it observes the agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job, and each self-employed person has a job (2008 SNA, 19.30). In application, a self-employed person is both the employer and employee. A job is position held by a person that involves work, duties or responsibilities; it may or may not provide returns of compensation or benefits to the individual.

As the dictionary definition implies, not all jobs are paid, either in money or in kind. People can be engaged in productive economic activity within an institutional unit for no apparent reward, in which case they are contributing to output but receiving no compensation. The 2008 SNA concept of a job includes these people as volunteer labour (2008 SNA, 19.39).

Jobs are created by enterprises. In the case of the self-employed person, the ILO defines these jobs as those where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential for profits) derived from the goods and services produced (where own consumption is considered to be part of profits). The incumbents make the operational decisions affecting the enterprise, or delegate such decisions while retaining responsibility for the welfare of the enterprise. In this context, "enterprise" includes one-person operations.

In summary, and in the context of the Australian Labour Account, a job is a set of production related tasks that can be assigned to and undertaken by a person, and for which they are usually, but not necessarily, remunerated either in money or in kind.

Production related tasks are constrained to economic activity within the 2008 SNA production boundary, and jobs are created and maintained by institutional units (Type of Activity Units within Enterprise Groups in the Australian context).

The Australian Labour Account includes all jobs created and maintained by institutional units (that is, households, legal entities and social entities) resident in Australian economic territory, involving economic activity within the Australian application of the 2008 SNA production boundary.

Estimates of movements in the number of jobs in the economy provide a measure of labour market performance and capacity.

Job Characteristics

Jobs can be classified according to:

• inherent job characteristics (e.g. whether the job is full-time or part-time),
• characteristics of the person holding the job (e.g. whether the job is filled by a self-employed person or an employee), or
• characteristics of the enterprise creating the job (e.g. the industry or institutional sector to which the job relates).

Status in Employment

In the Australian context, self-employment according to the ILO definition is not separately identified. Rather, jobs are distinguished according to the status in employment categories of the people filling the job.

These categories include:

1. Employee;
2. Owner-manager of incorporated enterprise with employees;
3. Owner-manager of incorporated enterprise without employees;
4. Owner-manager of unincorporated enterprise with employees;
5. Owner-manager of unincorporated enterprise without employees; and
6. Contributing family workers.

The closest approximation to the ILO concept of self-employment in the Australian context is the aggregation of the four “owner-manager” status in employment categories.

See Status in Employment in Labour Statistics Concepts, Sources and Methods (ABS cat. no. 6102.0.55.001) for more information on employment relationship classifications, including status in employment.

Employees

Employees are those employed persons who do not operate their own incorporated or unincorporated enterprise. An employee works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, on a commission basis (with or without a retainer), tips, piece-rates, or payment in kind.

Owner-managers of incorporated enterprises

An owner-manager of an incorporated enterprise is a person who operates his or her own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as limited liability company).

An owner manager of an incorporated enterprise (an OMIE) may or may not hire one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business.

Owner managers of unincorporated enterprises

In the Australian Labour Account, own-account workers and employers employed in their own enterprises are referred to as Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises (OMUEs). OMUEs are persons who operate their own unincorporated enterprise, or engage independently in a profession or trade. An owner manager of an unincorporated enterprise may or may not hire one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business.

Contributing family workers

A contributing family worker is a person who works without pay in an economic enterprise operated by a relative. Contributing family workers, including those working without pay in unincorporated enterprises engaged wholly or partly in market production, are also treated as self-employed (2008 SNA, 7.30b).

The ILO defines a contributing family worker as a person who holds a self-employment job in an enterprise operated by a related person, and who cannot be regarded as a partner because the degree of his or her commitment to the operation of the enterprise, in terms of the working time or other factors to be determined by national circumstances, is not at a level comparable with that of the head of the establishment.

Internationally the concept is restricted to those living in the same household, however Australia has not applied the same criteria of cohabitation in its implementation. For example, an adult child who makes unpaid contributions of labour to a family business operated by their parents, and does not live in the same household as the parents, is still considered to be a contributing family worker.

Own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household (such as subsistence farming or do-it-yourself construction of own dwellings), are considered employed according to the definition of employment adopted by Thirteenth International Convention of Labour Statisticians (ICLS). Households producing unpaid domestic or personal services (e.g., housework, caring for family members) for their own final consumption are excluded, as such activities fall outside the 2008 SNA production boundary and are not considered employment.

Jobs in the Australian Labour Account

Jobs which are in and out of scope of the Australian Labour Account are summarised in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Jobs included in and excluded from the Australian Labour Account

Jobs in scope	Jobs out of scope
Paid employment with formal work agreements – i.e. an employer/employee relationship.	Positions which are purely voluntary and no remuneration is received, either in cash or in kind.
Owner managers of businesses – i.e. self-employed persons.	Activities relating to the production of unpaid domestic services.
Unpaid contributions of labour to a family business or farm – i.e. contributing family workers.	Activities and positions outside of Australia’s economic territory.
Activities relating to the production of goods for own consumption.	Activities relating to unreported illegal transactions.

---

Jobs and Persons

The number of jobs in the economy exceeds the number of persons employed to the extent that some employed persons have more than one job in the same period. An individual with more than one job may do these successively, as when the person works for part of the week in one job and the rest of the week in another, or in parallel, as when the person has an evening job as well as a daytime job. In addition, the number of jobs in the economy may be reduced when compared to the number of persons employed in instances of formal job sharing arrangements.

Employers may not be aware of, and in any case are not asked to provide information on, secondary jobs undertaken by their employees. When employers supply information on the number of employees, they actually provide information on the number of jobs they hold. The distinction between number of jobs and number of employees is one issue that is addressed in the Australian Labour Account.

The Australian Labour Account recognises this difference by accounting for multiple job holding, and reports the number of jobs in the Jobs Table and employed persons in the Persons Table. However, the Australian Labour Account does not compile estimates of formal job sharing, as there is currently no available data source to measure this, and it is particularly unlikely to be reported accurately by businesses.

The statistics derived from the Labour Force Survey are designed to produce estimates of the number of people engaged in economic activity. The statistics derived from ABS business surveys count the number of jobs in which people are employed. For example, a person holding multiple jobs with different employers would be counted once in ABS household surveys as an employed person, but in ABS business surveys would be counted multiple times, once by each employer for each job that they held.

A number of examples illustrate this:

• if an unemployed person became employed full-time (by starting one full-time job), then the full-time employment estimate from the Labour Force Survey would increase by one (in a business survey, or a 'filled jobs' count, this would lead to an increase in the filled jobs estimate by one);
• if an unemployed person became employed full-time (by starting two part-time jobs with a total of 35 hours of work or more per week), then the full-time employment estimate from the Labour Force Survey would increase by one (however, in a business survey, or a 'filled jobs' count, this would lead to an increase in the filled jobs estimate by two);
• if a person who was already employed in one part-time job took on another part-time job, this would have differing impacts on the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey depending on the total number of hours worked: if the sum of hours worked in the two part-time jobs was fewer than 35 hours per week, the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey would remain unchanged, but if the sum of hours worked was 35 hours or more, the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey would show a decrease of one in part-time employment and an increase of one in full-time employment (however, in both cases this would lead to an increase of one in the filled jobs estimate from a business survey);
• if a person who was employed in three part-time jobs (working a total of more than 35 hours per week) resigned from these and assumed one full-time job, this would have no impact on the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey (however, this would lead to a decrease of two in the filled jobs estimate - the number of part-time filled jobs would decrease by three while the number of full-time filled jobs would increase by one); and
• if a person employed in two part-time jobs became unemployed, the employment estimate from the Labour Force Survey would decrease by one (however, this would lead to a decrease of two in the filled jobs estimate from a business survey).

Jobs Sources

Source data for quarterly and industry estimates of Jobs

Numbers of filled jobs, from the business sources side, are sourced from the following ABS data:

• Quarterly estimates of private sector jobs are estimated from underlying data from the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey (QBIS), from Business Indicators, Australia (ABS cat. no. 5676.0);
• Quarterly estimates of private sector jobs for out of scope ANZSIC Divisions in QBIS are estimated from the Economic Activity Survey (EAS), published in Australian Industry (ABS cat no. 8155.0) for ANZSIC Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) and Division O (Public Administration and Safety) using linear trend interpolation; and
• Quarterly data for the public sector are estimated using underlying data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE), from Employment and Earnings, Public Sector (ABS cat. no. 6248.0.55.002) using linear trend interpolation.

Business survey data are supplemented by ABS business register information, defence force information, child workers information and estimates from the ABS Labour Force Survey for contributing family workers.

The number of filled jobs, from the household survey side, is the aggregate of the number of main jobs and secondary jobs, less jobs with formal job sharing arrangements. Estimates for main jobs and secondary jobs are sourced from underlying data from Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6202.0). Survey based data are supplemented with defence force information, child workers information, information on non-residents working in Australia, and Australian residents living in Australia employed by overseas companies/business entities to account for survey scope restrictions. There is no information currently available on the number of jobs with formal job sharing arrangements.

Numbers of job vacancies are sourced from Job Vacancies, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6354.0). Data from the Internet Vacancy Index, published by the Department of Employment, are used to supplement ABS survey data for the out of scope ANZSIC Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing).

Table 3 below summarises data sources used in compiling quarterly and industry estimates of jobs.

Table 3: Description of quarterly data sources and uses for the Jobs Quadrant

Source data	Use in compiling quarterly data
Australian Industry (ABS cat. no. 8155.0)	• Used to benchmark quarterly data from Business Indicators, Australia. • Also used to compile estimates of private sector filled jobs (demand) for out of scope ANZSIC Divisions in QBIS, using linear trend interpolation.
Business Indicators, Australia (ABS cat. no. 5676.0)	Used to compile quarterly estimates of private sector filled jobs (business sources).
Employment and Earnings, Public Sector (ABS cat. no. 6248.0.55.002)	Used to compile estimates of public sector filled jobs (business sources), using linear trend interpolation.
Business register information (ABS Business Register Unit)	Used for scope adjustments to private sector filled jobs (business sources).
Defence force information (ABS National Accounts)	Used to estimate out of scope defence jobs for both filled jobs (business sources) and filled jobs (household sources).
Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6202.0) 1) Main job 2) Secondary jobs 3) Unemployment rate series & Attending tertiary education institution series (for modelling non-resident jobs)	• Used to estimate filled jobs (household sources), both main and secondary jobs. • Also used to estimate jobs held by out of scope non-residents working in Australia.
Child Employment, Australia, 2006 (ABS cat. no. 6211.0)	Used to estimate out of scope child employment for both filled jobs (business sources) and filled jobs (household sources).
Migration, Australia (ABS cat. no. 3412.0) and Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia (ABS cat. no. 3401.0)	Used to estimate jobs held by out of scope non-residents working in Australia.
Balance of Payments	Used to estimate out of scope Australian residents living in Australia employed by overseas companies/business entities.
Job Vacancies, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6354.0)	Used to compile job vacancies, and total jobs.
Internet Vacancy Index (Department of Employment)	Used to compile jobs vacancies, and total jobs, for the out of scope Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing ANZSIC Division A.

Source data for annual estimates of Jobs

The number of annual filled jobs, from both the business and household side, and the number of annual job vacancies, are compiled from the same data sources as the quarterly estimates.

Quarterly Jobs Methods

The Jobs quadrant provides data on the number of jobs (filled and vacant) as at the end of the quarter. Job statistics are compiled for each ANZSIC Industry division and for the economy as a whole. Unless otherwise stated, the methods described apply to both levels of aggregation.



Total Jobs

Total Jobs is the sum of Filled Jobs plus Job Vacancies.

Job Vacancies

A job vacancy is a job available for immediate filling on the survey reference date and for which recruitment action has been taken. Recruitment action includes efforts to fill vacancies by advertising, by on site or online notices, by notifying employment agencies or trade unions and by contacting, interviewing or selecting applicants already registered with the enterprise or organisation.

Estimates of job vacancies exclude:

• jobs not available for immediate filling on the survey reference date;
• jobs for which no recruitment action has been taken;
• jobs which became vacant on the survey date and were filled on the same day;
• jobs of less than one day's duration;
• jobs only available to be filled by internal applicants within an organisation;
• jobs to be filled by employees returning from paid or unpaid leave or after industrial disputes;
• vacancies for work to be carried out by contractors; and
• jobs for which a person has been appointed but has not yet commenced duty.

Total quarterly job vacancies are calculated as:

• the sum of the number of vacant positions reported in the ABS Job Vacancy Survey for the relevant quarterly reference date/month (3^rd Friday of February, May, August and November) and published in Job Vacancies, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6354.0); plus
  
• the number of job advertisements from the Department of Employment Internet Vacancy Index (as at the 1^st day of the third month of the reference quarter; i.e. 1 March, 1 June, 1 September, 1 December), for the following Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) occupation codes:
  • 12 Farmers and Managers;
  • 36 Skilled Animal and Horticultural Workers; and
  • 84 Farm, Forestry and Garden Workers.

Internet Vacancy Index data are added to capture vacancies available in employing enterprises primarily engaged in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, which are out of scope of the quarterly ABS Job Vacancies Survey.

Filled Jobs

Filled Jobs (Business Sources)

The number of filled jobs, from the business sources side, is equivalent to the number of people employed in enterprises resident in the Australian Economic Territory and engaged in economic activity within the scope of the National Accounts production boundary. People counted include employees, working proprietors and partners, employees absent on paid or prepaid leave, employees on workers' compensation who continue to be paid through the payroll, and contract workers paid through the payroll.

Filled Jobs (Business Sources), for each quarter, is estimated by aggregating:

• For the private sector, the number of employees as at the end of each quarter, sourced from the annual Economic Activity Survey (EAS) and published in Australian Industry (ABS cat. no. 8155.0);
• For the public sector, the number of employees as at the end of each quarter, derived using underlying data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE) (ABS cat. no. 6248.0.55.002)
  1. Public sector SEE data used in the Australian Labour Account exclude units in the non-financial and financial sectors, as they are also in scope of the EAS; and
• Quarterly estimates of underlying Quarterly Business Indicator Survey (QBIS) data from Business Indicators, Australia (ABS cat. no. 5676.0) to represent private sector employment in ANZSIC Division K (Finance and Insurance Services), which is out of scope of the EAS.

These three surveys cover most of the ANZSIC industries, except for:

• Class 6310 Life Insurance;
• Class 6330 Superannuation Funds; and
• Class 7600 Defence.

Units in ANZSIC Class 6330 Superannuation Funds are funds set up to provide retirement benefits. Conceptually they are considered to be non-employing units, and therefore would not contribute to Australian Labour Account estimates. As such, no estimate for employment in this industry has been included.

Scope adjustments are made for the following sectors and populations:

• Add:
1. The number of persons employed (at the end of each quarter) in ANZSIC Class 6310 (Life Insurance), sourced from underlying data from the ABS Business Register. This industry is not included in the EAS or QBIS.
2. The number of persons employed in the permanent defence forces as at the end of each quarter, sourced from underlying ABS National Accounts data. Defence force personnel fall outside the scope of the SEE. All defence force personnel in Class 7600 (Defence) are assumed to work in the Public Administration and Safety industry (ANZSIC Division O).
3. The number of unpaid contributing family workers for the quarter, sourced from the Labour Force Survey and published in Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6202.0), as unpaid employees are out of scope of ABS business surveys.
4. An estimate of the number of child workers (persons aged 5 to 14) who are self-employed, working on a farm, or as a contributing family worker. These data are sourced from ABS household survey data, using underlying data from Child Employment, Australia, 2006 (ABS cat. no. 6211.0). Population estimates from Australian Demographic Statistics (ABS cat. no. 3101.0) are used to extrapolate the number of child workers from the 2006 benchmark level, by assuming that the proportion of the age group working has not changed. Industry proportions are based on underlying Labour Force Survey data on employed persons aged 15 years old. No adjustments are made for child workers who are employees, as these persons are in scope of both EAS and QBIS.
   
• Deduct
1. The number of persons engaged in ANZSIC subdivision 28 Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage (Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia ABS cat. no. 6248.0.55.002 data) as this subdivision is included in the Australian Industry (ABS cat. no. 8155.0).

Calculation of Filled Jobs (Business Sources) by Industry

Data derived from an annual survey are generally considered to be of higher quality than quarterly data due to the larger sample sizes, and are generally subject to less volatility than quarterly run surveys. Annual source data provide overall levels, known as annual benchmarks, from which quarterly estimates are compiled. This ensures consistency between the quarterly and annual labour account.

For all ANZSIC industry divisions except A (Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries); K (Financial and Insurance Services) and O (Public Administration and Safety), a mathematical technique (the modified Proportional Denton Method) is used to allocate the annual change in private sector job holding derived from successive EAS surveys across the four quarters in line with the quarterly pattern of change in employment reported in the QBIS.

For the most recent quarters, for which EAS year-end data are not available, the previous year-end EAS numbers are extrapolated, also using QBIS and the modified Proportional Denton Method. Extrapolated data are calculated for up to 6 quarters, due to the 18 month lag in the delivery of EAS data.

For Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) and Division O (Public Administration and Safety), for which QBIS data are not available, the annual change in the EAS estimate of the number of persons employed is apportioned equally across each quarter. For the most recent quarters for which there are no year-end EAS data available, the latest EAS data are extrapolated using the annual change in industry COE and defence personnel respectively.

For Division K (Finance and Insurance Services) for which EAS data are not available, employment data reported in QBIS are used directly as the quarterly estimate of private sector job holding.

To calculate the number of public sector filled jobs, underlying data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE) (ABS cat. no. 6248.0.55.002) are used to estimate quarterly data. Quarterly data are calculated by evenly distributing the change in the annual growth across the four quarters.

Filled Jobs (Household Sources)

The number of filled jobs, from the household side, is equal to the number of people employed in main jobs and secondary jobs sourced from the household Labour Force Survey.

Filled Jobs (Household Sources), for each quarter, is estimated by aggregating:

• The number of main jobs reported in the end of quarter reference month (i.e. March, June, September and December) in the household Labour Force Survey and published in Labour Force Australia (ABS cat. no. 6202.0), and
• The number of secondary jobs reported in the end of quarter reference month in the household Labour Force Survey.

The following scope adjustments are made:

• Add:
1. The number of persons employed in the permanent defence forces as at the end of each quarter, to the estimate of main jobs. Defence force personnel are not included in the Labour Force Survey, and these data are sourced from underlying ABS National Accounts data. All defence force personnel are assumed to work in ANZSIC Division O (Public Administration and Safety). Permanent defence force personnel are also assumed to work solely in their main job and not have multiple jobs.
2. An estimate of the number of child job holders who are aged between 5 to 14 years as at the end of each quarter, to the estimate of main jobs. It is assumed that child workers do not hold secondary jobs. The estimate covers all child workers, regardless of employment status, as all children less than 15 years of age are excluded from the scope of the Labour Force Survey. The estimate is derived from data collected in the 2006 household survey Child Employment, Australia, 2006 (ABS cat. no. 6211.0). Population estimates from Australian Demographic Statistics (ABS cat. no. 3101.0) have been used to extrapolate the number of child workers from the 2006 benchmark level, by assuming the proportion of children in the 5-14 year age cohort who work has remained the same as that recorded in 2006. Industry allocations are based on underlying Labour Force Survey data on the industry of employment of 15 year old persons.
3. An estimate of the number of main jobs held by non-resident visitors to Australia employed by Australian resident enterprises to the estimate of main jobs (see Non-resident visitors section below).
4. An estimate of the number of secondary jobs held by non-resident visitors employed by Australian resident enterprises to the number of secondary jobs.

Non-resident visitors

The Labour Force Survey excludes from its scope non-resident visitors who intend spending less than 12 months in Australia, some of whom are employed during their stay by Australian resident enterprises. As non-resident visitors are included in the scope of business surveys (EAS and QBIS), only household side labour force data are adjusted to include non-resident visitors who are employed.

Data are sourced from underlying short term visitor arrivals statistics from Migration, Australia (ABS cat. no. 3412.0). Data are obtained for the number of short term visitor arrivals who have entered the country with a visa that contains working rights, with information also obtained relating to their main reason for journey. These visa classes and reasons for journey are detailed in Appendix 7. Visa classes are then aggregated into three main groups: short term visitors: students; short term visitors: 457 visa holders; and short term visitors: other.

To estimate the number of main jobs held by short term visitors: students, the 12 month average employment rate (for each financial year) of resident persons attending tertiary education, obtained from the Labour Force Survey, is multiplied by the estimated number of short term student visa holders. The Labour Force Survey data used in the calculation of employed short term students are limited to those persons aged 15-24 years old, who are currently undertaking full-time tertiary education. The method assumes that similar employment rates apply to short term visitors on student visas as for full-time Australian resident tertiary students, and that all short-term student visa holders are in the labour force (either employed or unemployed).

To estimate the number of main jobs held by short term visitors other than students (both 457 and other visa holders), the 12 month average employment rate (for each financial year) for all residents is multiplied by the number of visa holders with working rights. This method assumes that all temporary entrants with a visa that had working rights were in the labour force (either employed or unemployed), and that similar rates of employment for this group apply when compared with the resident population.

To estimate the number of secondary jobs held by non-resident short-term visitors other than students, the estimated number of non-resident main job holders is multiplied by the proportion of resident employed persons who hold multiple jobs sourced from the Labour Force Survey. This method assumes that short term visitors hold multiple jobs in the same proportion as the resident employed population.

As there is a time lag in the delivery of Net Overseas Migration (NOM) data, estimates of short term visitors for the latest quarters have been extrapolated by using a long term ratio of NOM to Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) data, which are more timely. NOM and OAD data are sourced from underlying data from Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia (ABS. cat. no. 3401.0).

Jobs held by short term visitors are disaggregated to industry in the following ways:

1. Main jobs held by short term visitors (students) are disaggregated to industry using an underlying Labour Force Survey series of persons aged 15-24 attending full-time educational institutions.
2. For main jobs held by short term visitors (457 visa holders), data from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on the industry of the employer sponsoring the visa are used.
3. For main jobs held by short term visitors (other), underlying data from Labour Force supplementary surveys which approximates tenuous employment, namely part-time employment with no leave entitlements, are used.
4. For secondary jobs held by short term visitors other than students, the same industry distribution as for the total number of main jobs held by short term visitors other than students (the sum of 457 visa holders and other short term non students) is assumed to apply.

• Deduct:
1. the number of jobs held by Australian residents living in Australia employed by non-resident enterprises, sourced from underlying Balance of Payments data. As most of the people involved are employed by agencies of foreign governments (consulates, embassies etc.), the deductions are made from ANZSIC Division O (Public Administration and Safety). Although the Labour Force Survey would include people over the age of 15 years in this category, they are not contributing to economic activity within Australian economic territory as measured in the National Accounts.

Calculation of Filled Jobs (Household Sources) by Industry Division

The Labour Force Survey collects quarterly data on the industry of the main job held by employed persons. For each employed person, it also collects the number of secondary jobs held (second, third, fourth or more). The Labour Force Survey does not record the industry of secondary jobs. To calculate the number of filled jobs and people employed at an industry level requires the allocation of each secondary job to an industry.

This is done in the Australian Labour Account by first obtaining the total number of multiple job holders and secondary jobs from the Labour Force Survey. At this stage, multiple jobs holders and secondary jobs are classified by the industry of main job for each employed person. Data from the Information Paper: Construction of Experimental Statistics on Employee Earnings and Jobs from Administrative Data, Australia, 2011-12 (ABS cat. no. 6311.0), using the ABS Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LEED), are then used to determine the proportions of the industry of employment of second jobs for multiple job holders, and applied to industry of main job Labour Force Survey data.

The relationship of primary to secondary jobs in each industry are derived in the base year of 2011-12, and differential growth rates in Gross Value Added are applied to these relationship ratios to account for growth and decline in industries in respect of primary jobs, and to reflect change in the relative share of secondary jobs. These updated distributions are used to allocate the relevant quarterly Labour Force Survey secondary job holdings to each industry, to estimate the total number of filled jobs in each industry.

Jobs held by employed persons who hold three or more jobs are included in the total number of jobs in the Australian Labour Account. The industry allocation, based on LEED proportions, distributes the total number of jobs to industry of second job only. Allocation based on LEED industry of third, fourth and additional jobs is an area for improvement for future Australian Labour Account compilation.

Where relevant, data are sourced from information collected in the Labour Force Survey in the last month of the relevant quarter, and apportioned across the industries using the related quarterly labour force industry data. For example, estimates in the September quarter Australian Labour Account are sourced from September month Labour Force data (ABS cat. no. 6202.0), which are then distributed across industry divisions from the industry distribution of quarterly data captured in the August Labour Force Survey published in Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly (ABS cat. no. 6291.0.55.003).

Job Sharing

There is currently no household side information available on the number of jobs with job sharing arrangements. As a result, the total number of filled jobs is equivalent to the sum of reported main jobs and secondary jobs, plus scope adjustments. As with the business side, shared jobs on the household side would be counted as many times as there are people engaged in such arrangements.

Annual Jobs Methods

The Jobs quadrant contains stock data, which are data that measure certain attributes at a point in time. To determine an annual estimate of jobs in this quadrant, an average level is derived using a simple arithmetic average of the four quarterly estimates. Refer to Labour Account Methods for an example of this method.

The annual estimate of jobs is an approximate estimate of the number of jobs at any point in time during the year.