Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry

Updated chart pack

Released

24/06/2021

Source

Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, May 2021

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.

Chart 1: Hours worked index, Status in Employment, Original (Feb 2020 =100.0)
	Casual	Employee with paid leave entitlements	Owner Manager
Nov-19	100.3	97.8	103.1
Feb-20	100	100	100
May-20	72.3	93.9	83.6
Aug-20	83.5	96.1	90.3
Nov-20	95	97.8	97.5
Feb-21	94.8	100.6	99.7
May-21	98.8	100.9	100.7

Chart 1: Hours worked index, Status in Employment, Original (Feb 2020 =100.0)

["","Casual","Employee with paid leave entitlements","Owner Manager"]

[["Nov-19","Feb-20","May-20","Aug-20","Nov-20","Feb-21","May-21"],[[100.3],[100],[72.299999999999997],[83.5],[95],[94.799999999999997],[98.799999999999997]],[[97.799999999999997],[100],[93.900000000000006],[96.099999999999994],[97.799999999999997],[100.59999999999999],[100.90000000000001]],[[103.09999999999999],[100],[83.599999999999994],[90.299999999999997],[97.5],[99.700000000000003],[100.7]]]

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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.

Chart 2: Hours worked by casual employees, Original
	Total weekly hours worked	Average weekly hours worked
May-16	57.8	22.8
Aug-16	56.5	22.9
Nov-16	58.8	23.1
Feb-17	57.6	23.2
May-17	58.7	23.1
Aug-17	58.8	23.2
Nov-17	62.0	23.7
Feb-18	61.6	23.9
May-18	60.2	22.8
Aug-18	59.0	22.8
Nov-18	62.8	23.4
Feb-19	60.9	23.6
May-19	61.5	22.8
Aug-19	58.8	22.8
Nov-19	60.5	23.1
Feb-20	60.4	23.0
May-20	43.7	21.0
Aug-20	50.4	21.8
Nov-20	57.4	23.2
Feb-21	57.2	22.9
May-21	59.6	22.9

Chart 2: Hours worked by casual employees, Original

["","Total  weekly hours worked","Average weekly hours worked"]

[["May-16","Aug-16","Nov-16","Feb-17","May-17","Aug-17","Nov-17","Feb-18","May-18","Aug-18","Nov-18","Feb-19","May-19","Aug-19","Nov-19","Feb-20","May-20","Aug-20","Nov-20","Feb-21","May-21"],[[57.799999999999997],[56.5],[58.799999999999997],[57.600000000000001],[58.700000000000003],[58.799999999999997],[62],[61.600000000000001],[60.200000000000003],[59],[62.799999999999997],[60.899999999999999],[61.5],[58.799999999999997],[60.5],[60.399999999999999],[43.700000000000003],[50.399999999999999],[57.399999999999999],[57.200000000000003],[59.600000000000001]],[[22.800000000000001],[22.899999999999999],[23.100000000000001],[23.199999999999999],[23.100000000000001],[23.199999999999999],[23.699999999999999],[23.899999999999999],[22.800000000000001],[22.800000000000001],[23.399999999999999],[23.600000000000001],[22.800000000000001],[22.800000000000001],[23.100000000000001],[23],[21],[21.800000000000001],[23.199999999999999],[22.899999999999999],[22.899999999999999]]]

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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.

Chart 3: Total hours worked, by hours worked ranges, Casual employees, Original
	1-9 hours	10-19 hours	20-29 hours	30-39 hours	40 hours or more
May-2016	2.4	8.1	10.7	16.6	19.9
Aug-2016	2.5	8.0	11.0	14.7	20.3
Nov-2016	2.5	7.8	11.2	16.4	21.0
Feb-2017	2.3	7.4	11.3	15.5	21.2
May-2017	2.5	7.9	11.1	16.0	21.2
Aug-2017	2.4	7.7	11.1	16.0	21.7
Nov-2017	2.3	7.6	12.1	16.6	23.4
Feb-2018	2.2	7.2	12.0	17.1	23.1
May-2018	2.6	8.0	12.0	16.5	21.0
Aug-2018	2.6	7.5	11.9	16.6	20.4
Nov-2018	2.6	7.6	12.5	17.0	23.1
Feb-2019	2.2	7.5	11.9	17.3	22.0
May-2019	2.6	8.3	12.5	17.0	21.1
Aug-2019	2.5	7.7	12.1	16.6	20.0
Nov-2019	2.4	7.9	12.2	17.4	20.7
Feb-2020	2.3	7.5	12.7	17.7	20.2
May-2020	2.2	6.2	8.9	11.8	14.6
Aug-2020	2.4	6.8	11.3	14.3	15.6
Nov-2020	2.2	7.6	12.2	16.5	18.9
Feb-2021	2.2	7.1	12.1	17.4	18.4
May-2021	2.4	8.0	12.8	17.3	19.1

Chart 3: Total hours worked, by hours worked ranges, Casual employees, Original

["","1-9 hours","10-19 hours","20-29 hours","30-39 hours","40 hours or more"]

[["May-2016","Aug-2016","Nov-2016","Feb-2017","May-2017","Aug-2017","Nov-2017","Feb-2018","May-2018","Aug-2018","Nov-2018","Feb-2019","May-2019","Aug-2019","Nov-2019","Feb-2020","May-2020","Aug-2020","Nov-2020","Feb-2021","May-2021"],[[2.4350000000000001],[2.4990000000000001],[2.4540000000000002],[2.2669999999999999],[2.5329999999999999],[2.423],[2.3069999999999999],[2.2250000000000001],[2.613],[2.6080000000000001],[2.5880000000000001],[2.2290000000000001],[2.5609999999999999],[2.4580000000000002],[2.3660000000000001],[2.302],[2.1739999999999999],[2.3929999999999998],[2.2320000000000002],[2.242],[2.3769999999999998]],[[8.0899999999999999],[8.0069999999999997],[7.7869999999999999],[7.4050000000000002],[7.9359999999999999],[7.6760000000000002],[7.5750000000000002],[7.2039999999999997],[8.0419999999999998],[7.468],[7.6299999999999999],[7.4850000000000003],[8.2919999999999998],[7.734],[7.9249999999999998],[7.4749999999999996],[6.1619999999999999],[6.8289999999999997],[7.5819999999999999],[7.0789999999999997],[8.0429999999999993]],[[10.744],[10.996],[11.224],[11.266],[11.061],[11.079000000000001],[12.140000000000001],[12.025],[12.004],[11.871],[12.487],[11.933],[12.49],[12.106],[12.177],[12.651999999999999],[8.9489999999999998],[11.332000000000001],[12.196999999999999],[12.087999999999999],[12.766]],[[16.638999999999999],[14.680999999999999],[16.356999999999999],[15.457000000000001],[15.962999999999999],[15.952999999999999],[16.606999999999999],[17.132000000000001],[16.532],[16.640999999999998],[17.013999999999999],[17.283000000000001],[16.969999999999999],[16.556999999999999],[17.420000000000002],[17.739000000000001],[11.826000000000001],[14.263999999999999],[16.475999999999999],[17.446000000000002],[17.312000000000001]],[[19.859000000000002],[20.334],[20.981999999999999],[21.190000000000001],[21.216000000000001],[21.690999999999999],[23.420000000000002],[23.059999999999999],[21.003],[20.431000000000001],[23.079000000000001],[22.009],[21.140999999999998],[19.957000000000001],[20.66],[20.196999999999999],[14.561],[15.606],[18.888000000000002],[18.355],[19.129000000000001]]]

[]

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[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Million hours ","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":"0","axis_max":"25","tick_interval":"5","precision":"1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

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.

Chart 4: Change in employed people and average hours worked, by Occupation, February 2020 to May 2021, Original
	Employed (%)	Average hours worked (%)
Managers	7.8	4.3
Professionals	6.7	6.2
Technicians and trades workers	-0.9	-1.7
Community and personal service workers	0.9	0.7
Clerical and administrative workers	-3.4	-4.5
Sales workers	-3.7	-2.8
Machinery operators and divers	-3.4	-4.2
Labourers	-5.9	-5.6

Chart 4: Change in employed people and average hours worked, by Occupation, February 2020 to May 2021, Original

["","Employed","Average hours worked"]

[["Managers","Professionals","Technicians and trades workers","Community and personal service workers","Clerical and administrative workers","Sales workers","Machinery operators and divers","Labourers"],[[7.7999999999999998],[6.7000000000000002],[-0.90000000000000002],[0.90000000000000002],[-3.3999999999999999],[-3.7000000000000002],[-3.3999999999999999],[-5.9000000000000004]],[[4.2999999999999998],[6.2000000000000002],[-1.7],[0.69999999999999996],[-4.5],[-2.7999999999999998],[-4.2000000000000002],[-5.5999999999999996]]]

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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.

Chart 5: Whether remained employed in May 2021, by Occupation in February 2021, Original
	Same occupation in Feb and May (%)	Different occupation in May (%)	Not employed in May (%)
Professionals	84.4	12.7	2.9
Technicians and trades workers	80.8	15.7	3.5
Community and personal service workers	78.7	16.5	4.8
Machinery operators and drivers	75.6	20.2	4.2
Clerical and administrative workers	75.5	20.6	3.9
Managers	70.8	26.5	2.7
Sales workers	70.6	24.3	5.1
Labourers	69.4	24.2	6.4

Chart 5: Whether remained employed in May 2021, by Occupation in February 2021, Original

["","Same occupation in Feb and May","Different occupation in May","Not employed in May"]

[["Professionals","Technicians and trades workers","Community and personal service workers","Machinery operators and drivers","Clerical and administrative workers","Managers","Sales workers","Labourers"],[[84.400000000000006],[80.799999999999997],[78.700000000000003],[75.599999999999994],[75.5],[70.799999999999997],[70.599999999999994],[69.400000000000006]],[[12.699999999999999],[15.699999999999999],[16.5],[20.199999999999999],[20.600000000000001],[26.5],[24.300000000000001],[24.199999999999999]],[[2.8999999999999999],[3.5],[4.7999999999999998],[4.2000000000000002],[3.8999999999999999],[2.7000000000000002],[5.0999999999999996],[6.4000000000000004]]]

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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.

Chart 6: Change in employed people and average hours worked, by Industry, February 2020 to May 2021
	Employed (%)	Average hours worked (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	-7.2	-9.9
Mining	15.7	10.5
Manufacturing	-1.1	-1.2
Electricity, gas, water and waste services	10.5	13.9
Construction	-2.3	-1.5
Wholesale trade	-5.8	-7.0
Retail trade	4.6	3.8
Accommodation and food services	-5.6	-5.5
Transport, postal and warehousing	-1.1	-5.8
Information media and telecommunications	-16.2	-15.2
Financial and insurance services	3.7	2.7
Rental, hiring and real estate services	-3.8	6.2
Professional, scientific and technical services	7.7	6.3
Administrative and support services	-5.1	-8.9
Public administration and safety	5.4	5.8
Education and training	1.0	0.4
Health care and social assistance	2.3	3.1
Arts and recreation services	3.5	-2.6
Other services	8.1	5.0

Chart 6: Change in employed people and average hours worked, by Industry, February 2020 to May 2021

["","Employed","Average hours worked"]

[["Agriculture, forestry and fishing  ","Mining","Manufacturing","Electricity, gas, water and waste services  ","Construction","Wholesale trade","Retail trade","Accommodation and food services","Transport, postal and warehousing  ","Information media and telecommunications","Financial and insurance services","Rental, hiring and real estate services  ","Professional, scientific and technical services  ","Administrative and support services","Public administration and safety","Education and training","Health care and social assistance","Arts and recreation services","Other services"],[[-7.2000000000000002],[15.699999999999999],[-1.1000000000000001],[10.5],[-2.2999999999999998],[-5.7999999999999998],[4.5999999999999996],[-5.5999999999999996],[-1.1000000000000001],[-16.199999999999999],[3.7000000000000002],[-3.7999999999999998],[7.7000000000000002],[-5.0999999999999996],[5.4000000000000004],[1],[2.2999999999999998],[3.5],[8.0999999999999996]],[[-9.9000000000000004],[10.5],[-1.2],[13.9],[-1.5],[-7],[3.7999999999999998],[-5.5],[-5.7999999999999998],[-15.199999999999999],[2.7000000000000002],[6.2000000000000002],[6.2999999999999998],[-8.9000000000000004],[5.7999999999999998],[0.40000000000000002],[3.1000000000000001],[-2.6000000000000001],[5]]]

[]

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[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"%","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"(%)","table_units":"(%)","axis_min":"-20","axis_max":"16","tick_interval":"2","precision":"1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

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.

Chart 7: Whether remained employed in May 2021, by Industry in February 2021, Original
	Same industry in Feb and May (%)	Different industry in May (%)	Not employed in May (%)
Education and training	87.7	8.8	3.4
Financial and insurance services	87.6	9.7	2.7
Health care and social assistance	86.7	9.9	3.4
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	81.6	12	6.3
Public administration and safety	81.4	16.4	2.3
Accommodation and food services	80.7	13.5	5.8
Retail trade	79.8	16.3	4
Mining	79.3	16.6	4.1
Information media and telecommunications	79.1	17.8	3.1
Professional, scientific and technical services	78.5	17.9	3.6
Construction	78.5	18.1	3.4
Transport, postal and warehousing	77.7	17.7	4.6
Rental, hiring and real estate services	76.8	17.3	5.9
Electricity, gas, water and waste services	73.8	25.6	0.6
Other services	71.5	23.1	5.5
Manufacturing	70.7	25.5	3.8
Administrative and support services	64.6	30.3	5.2
Arts and recreation services	62.4	31.3	6.3
Wholesale trade	53.1	44.3	2.7

Chart 7: Whether remained employed in May 2021, by Industry in February 2021, Original

["","Same industry in Feb and May","Different industry in May","Not employed in May"]

[["Education and training","Financial and insurance services","Health care and social assistance","Agriculture, forestry and fishing ","Public administration and safety","Accommodation and food services","Retail trade","Mining","Information media and telecommunications","Professional, scientific and technical services ","Construction","Transport, postal and warehousing ","Rental, hiring and real estate services ","Electricity, gas, water and waste services ","Other services","Manufacturing","Administrative and support services","Arts and recreation services","Wholesale trade"],[[87.700000000000003],[87.599999999999994],[86.700000000000003],[81.599999999999994],[81.400000000000006],[80.700000000000003],[79.799999999999997],[79.299999999999997],[79.099999999999994],[78.5],[78.5],[77.700000000000003],[76.799999999999997],[73.799999999999997],[71.5],[70.700000000000003],[64.599999999999994],[62.399999999999999],[53.100000000000001]],[[8.8000000000000007],[9.6999999999999993],[9.9000000000000004],[12],[16.399999999999999],[13.5],[16.300000000000001],[16.600000000000001],[17.800000000000001],[17.899999999999999],[18.100000000000001],[17.699999999999999],[17.300000000000001],[25.600000000000001],[23.100000000000001],[25.5],[30.300000000000001],[31.300000000000001],[44.299999999999997]],[[3.3999999999999999],[2.7000000000000002],[3.3999999999999999],[6.2999999999999998],[2.2999999999999998],[5.7999999999999998],[4],[4.0999999999999996],[3.1000000000000001],[3.6000000000000001],[3.3999999999999999],[4.5999999999999996],[5.9000000000000004],[0.59999999999999998],[5.5],[3.7999999999999998],[5.2000000000000002],[6.2999999999999998],[2.7000000000000002]]]

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