AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- The healthcare sector takes over retail to become Australia’s largest employer.
- The accommodation and food services sector has been severely hit.
- Focus on healthcare is a probable reason behind this change in league table.
The growing focus on healthcare amid the COVID-19 pandemic has had yet another effect in Australia – healthcare has pipped the retail sector as the biggest employer for Australians.
As per the latest data released by Australian Bureau of Statistics, healthcare sector employed 1.37 million Australian as of June 2020, 4.1% more compared with 1.32 million a year ago.
On the other hand, the retail sector saw employment dip marginally, by 20 basis point (bps) – to 1.329 million workers from 1.331 million a year ago.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
The other sectors that employed more than 1 million Australians include – the construction sector and professional, scientific and technical services.
A year ago, in June 2019, accommodation and food services also employed more than 1 million, but as COVID-19 hit the travel and tourism the hardest, the employment in the sector dipped 6.4% to 954 million.
Globally the governments – both at central and local level – have been adding more and more emphasis on healthcare after the pandemic caught all the nations off guard.
In Australia’s federal budget itself for this year, healthcare makes up almost one-sixth of the country’s AU$589.3 billion spending. As part of the healthcare allocation, the government has proposed to allocate AU$1.9 billion for vaccine rollout plan alone.
“Our priority is to keep Australians safe from COVID. In this Budget, a further $1.9 billion is allocated for the rollout of vaccines. Australians have already received over 2.5 million doses,” Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had said in his Budget speech.
Similarly, at the state level, Victoria Budget, which was announced earlier this week, also laid a strong emphasis on the healthcare sector.
