One in five job seekers report "too many applicants for available jobs"

The main difficulty in finding work in 2025-26 was “too many applicants for available jobs”, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics said: “About one in five people – or 22 per cent – reported too many applicants as their main barrier for finding work. 

“82 per cent of people who wanted a job, were looking for work, and were available to start within 4 weeks reported difficulties in getting a job. 

“Just over one in four men reported their main difficulty was ‘too many applicants for available jobs’, while about one in seven said lacking training, qualifications or experience was theirs.

“For women, the main difficulty was split almost equally between those two barriers.” 

Women were also more highly represented among people who wanted a job but were not available to start work in the next four weeks, with 40 per cent stating that caring for children was their main barrier. 

19 per cent of part-time workers reported wanting to work more, with 90 per cent available to start working more hours within four weeks.

Long-term health conditions were a common reason people were unavailable to start work, however, not all people with a long-term health condition were unable to work.

About one in five people who weren’t available for work said a long-term health condition or disability was their main barrier.

Men and women also reported different incentives for paid work. 

Women said the most important factor was being able to work part-time hours (34 per cent), followed by finding a job that matches skills and experience (32 per cent).

Over a third of men (36 per cent) reported that the most important factor to get them to work was finding a job that matches skills and experience, followed by support for training or study to improve skills (26 per cent) and access to a mentor or someone to offer support in the workplace (22 per cent).