Spring renovating is expected to drive jobs growth in Queensland in the next quarter, with employment in the retail sector forecast to expand by 3.6% - the highest of any sector.
Drake Queensland area manager Brian Woodam says hardware stores will be key employers as homeowners start to prepare for spring renovation jobs and general retailers implement strategies to maintain year-long shopping periods.
"Retailers have worked hard to ease the seasonal effects associated with the industry by promoting shopping as a year-long 'lifestyle' experience.
"It's working and with more shoppers in store more often, companies are choosing permanent staff over casuals to keep operational costs down," he says, adding that more than 60% of the 9,685 new positions are expected to be full-time.
Underlining the strength of the market, a report released this week by recruitment firm Hudson found the strong economy - further boosted by the $2.6 billion Budget surplus - are driving jobs growth.
The Hudson
Employment and HR Trends survey shows 33.3% of Queensland employers expect to increase staff numbers, nearly 5 percentage points higher than the national average.
However, the uncertainty over the timing of the federal election and a possible change of government is holding back hiring intentions.
Woodam says a 1.8% increase in employment opportunities is expected in the next three months, with 17.2% of respondents planning to increase staff and 2.8% looking to shed workers.
He says 61.7% of these jobs are expected to be full-time (54% nationally), 27.2% casual, 8.2% part-time and 2.9% contract.
The surveys back up results from
QBR's 2004
Queensland 400 survey, which found the state's top private companies expect to increase staff numbers by 7.5% to around 43,000 over the next year.