Australia’s skills shortages are way overblown

Thursday 24 July 2025

Last week, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) released data showing that employers are having a far easier time finding workers to fill roles.

As illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, the overall share of employees finding it difficult to find workers has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels.

While higher-skilled workers remain harder to find, lower-skilled workers are oversupplied.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.