Total full-time workforce

IBISWorld forecasts the number of full-time employees to mount by 1.5% in 2024-25, to average 9.98 million people. This growth aligns with the Australian total population growth of 1.4% in the current year. Cost-of-living pressures encourage individuals to seek full-time jobs or work additional hours, accelerating the underutilisation rate. Labour market conditions are still tight, yet as the labour market is forecast to normalise, the total full-time workforce will likely expand in 2024-25.

A person needs to work 35 hours per week to be considered a full-time employee. This means that many jobs, including those that offer school-friendly hours, are considered part-time. This has become more noticeable as households are increasingly made up of two working parents. A recent cost-of-living crisis has encouraged workers to take multiple jobs as there are more part-time job opportunities than full-time. The increasing casualisation of the workforce, whereby more employees are working part-time rather than full-time, has limited growth in the total full-time workforce over the past few years. An increasingly globalised workforce has resulted in the Australian economy losing many full-time positions despite continued growth in the overall population. Increased businesses investing in advanced technologies and automation has further hindered growth in the number of full-time employees in the workforce. Economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic has rebounded labour demand, which has caused a post-pandemic job boom and stimulated growth in the total full-time workforce through the end of 2022-23. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts the number of full-time employees to expand by a compound annual rate of 2.7% through the end of 2024-25.