Property Jobs Market Update
As the financial year shuts its doors, we reflect on the employment market in the property industry in the past year in the areas that we service. We experienced a distinct surge in recruitment activity from July 2017 and this remained steady and strong for the entire year, resulting in our best year on record. In fact, 2017/2018 has proven to be one of the best years since the GFC for the recruitment industry in Australia.
Residential Agency
The residential market continued to experience a chronic shortage of residential property managers, which shows no signs of changing. However, with minimum training requirements for the property management license being introduced this year (and a deadline of September 2019 to obtain a licence), it will be interesting to see the impact this has on the residential job market going forward.
Commercial Agency
Demand for commercial and agency property management staff remained strong, with degree qualified professionals with up to 2 years’ experience proving challenging to source.
Leasing
Leasing executives for both office and retail sectors are always in demand and this hasn’t changed in the past 12 months. This can be attributed to the small pool of
experienced operatives working in this sector locally together with a challenging retail market added to the mix.
Facilities Management
In contrast, facilities managers have been in slight oversupply, partly due to candidates coming from overseas on the 457 state sponsored visa. This group typically
have fantastic skills and experience, but some have found it hard at times to break into the market locally.
Retail Property Management and Development
Both retail property management and the development sector have remained steady, showing some movement but it has generally been quieter in this area of the market.
We’re seeing some positive signs across many sectors of the property industry going into the 2018/2019 financial year, including the broader news of the $35 billion Future Frigates contract win for BAE last week – an exciting outcome for the state that will have an impact across many industry sectors.
Sentiment around the new Government is positive, and surprisingly we did not experience any noticeable slow-down going into or after the election earlier this year. The Liberal government will scrutinise the public service for cost savings, but on the flip side are keen to see the SME sector grow. The move to make businesses with annual taxable wages of up to $1.5 million exempt from payroll tax is a great step in the right direction for jobs growth in South Australia. We are looking forward to another busy year ahead!
For a confidential discussion about employment matters in the property industry contact Kelly Armstrong or Jane Carey at Edge Recruitment on 08 8232 2220. To view our current job opportunities, visit our website.