Human Resources Job Market Report

Human Resources Job Market Report

Exclusive data reveals in demand skills & jobs data

Gain insights into HR job opportunities with The Next Step's comprehensive Human Resources Job Market Report. This exclusive report offers detailed analysis of HR career trends and emerging HR job opportunities across Australia.

Inside this report, you'll discover:

• Which HR disciplines are experiencing the highest demand
• Regional hotspots with changes to hiring activity
• Industry hiring hotspots for HR professionals
• Top Human Resources skills employers need now

Essential insights for employers and professionals

Whether you're hiring HR talent or seeking your next career move, this analysis provides the market intelligence you need to make informed decisions.

The Next Step's HR Job Opportunities Index has carefully tracked HR employment data since 2015, providing job seekers and employers with accurate HR employment trends.

Download The Next Step's Human Resources job market report today for access to insights that will give you a competitive edge.

Australia's HR job market: 2026 Edition #03

Not every softening quarter tells the same story. The Next Step HR Job Opportunities Index fell 6.9% in the three months to May 2026, but the composition of demand tells a more considered tale than the headline suggests. Permanent hiring still accounts for 80.2% of all roles. The year-on-year trend for permanent positions is positive. And two discipline: Workplace Relations and HSE, grew when almost everything else fell.

The broader environment is weighing on confidence. Unemployment rose to 4.5% in April, the RBA has flagged weaker growth ahead, and employers are making more deliberate hiring decisions as a result. But deliberate is not the same as stopped.

This edition's index points clearly to where structural demand is holding and where the market has pulled back.

• NSW remains Australia's largest HR market, holding 28.5% of all advertised vacancies despite falling 11.3% this quarter. A pause following its strong 17.5% Q1 rise, with year-on-year demand still up 2.1%.
• VIC holds second place with a 21.8% share, retaining the gains made over the past two years even after giving back some of Q1's 23.9% rise.
• QLD sits in third at 21.0% share, recording one of the larger quarterly declines at -11.8%, though demand remains elevated by historical standards.



The market has recalibrated. The question now is whether the structural drivers: compliance, safety, and workforce complexity - can sustain demand while the cyclical side finds its footing again.

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