Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry

Updated chart pack

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Released
24/06/2021
Source
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, May 2021
Released
24/06/2021 11:30am AEST

This article includes information on casual employment, occupation and industry. It follows on from the previous similar articles during the COVID period, including  Insights into Industry and Occupation (in May 2020) and Insights into casual employment, occupation and industry (in Nov 2020).

Industry and occupation information in the article refers to a person’s ‘main job’ and are collected in the Labour Force Survey in February, May, August and November.

Hours worked by casual employees

Chart 1 compares the change in hours worked for casuals with non-casual employees (i.e. those with leave entitlements) and owner managers, indexed to February 2020. Its shows that the hours of casual employees, and to a lesser extent owner managers, were more impacted by COVID-19.

Total hours worked has increased for all employment categories since May 2020, with casuals increasing to 98.8% of their February 2020 levels. Hours worked by employees with paid leave entitlements and owner managers were higher in May 2021 than in February 2020.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Chart 2 shows the impact of COVID-19 on the working hours of casual employees, with both the total number of weekly hours worked by all casual employees, and the average weekly hours worked by casual employees, falling considerably between February and May 2020, before rebounding in August and into November 2020. Average weekly hours fell slightly in February 2021 and remained flat into May 2021, while total weekly hours worked fell slightly in February 2021 and rose in May 2021.

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Chart 3 shows the total weekly hours worked by casual employees across different weekly hours worked categories.

Compositionally, the 10-19 and 20-29 weekly hours categories have the highest proportion of casual employees.

Source: Labour Force Australia, Detailed, Datacube EQ04

Occupation

Chart 4 shows changes in employment and average hours worked in each of the major groups of occupations between February 2020 and May 2021.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 12

Chart 5 shows, for people employed in each occupation in February 2021, the proportion who were:

  • still employed in the same occupation in May 2021;
  • still employed in May 2021 but in a different occupation; or
  • no longer employed in May 2021.

The proportion of people remaining in the same occupation between February 2021 and May 2021 was generally higher than seen between February 2020 and May 2020, when COVID period impacts were greatest. There was also generally higher occupational mobility in May 2021, compared with May 2020, and a lower prevalence of people moving out of employment in all occupation groups.

Source: Longitudinal Labour Force Microdata

Industry

Chart 6 shows changes in employment and average hours worked in each of the industry divisions between February 2020 and May 2021.

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 4 and Table 11

Chart 7 shows, for people employed in each industry in February 2021, the proportion who were:

  • still employed in the same industry in May 2021;
  • still employed in May 2021 but in a different industry; or
  • no longer employed in May 2021.

As with occupation, the industry flows in May 2021 were very different to those in May 2020, with more people staying employed (both in the same industry or in another industry) and less people leaving employment.

Source: Longitudinal Labour Force Microdata