Originally published by the Australian Institute of Health & Safety
While the HSE job market has softened slightly over the past quarter, following a period of significant and sustained growth, job opportunities in the health, safety, wellbeing and environment sectors look promising in 2024.
A recent research report found that advertised HSE roles are 9.9 per cent higher than they were this time last year and are a significantly 96.4 per cent higher than two years ago, according to Aaron Neilson, CEO of The Safe Step, which recently released its latest HSE Job Opportunities Index.
Recent dips (down 2.2 per cent in the past three months) have not eroded the substantial growth experienced post-COVID, while demand for environmental health advisors increased by 9 per cent and demand for HSE managers softened slightly, down 4 per cent in the past quarter.
“For an extended period, we have seen a significant gap between supply and demand. While some observers might have expected tightening economic conditions to close the gap, we are yet to see any meaningful shift in talent shortages,” said Neilson.
“Why is this? While employer demand has indeed dropped slightly, the number of people actively looking for new jobs has also decreased. Health and safety professionals are naturally risk averse. Many consider the risk of moving to be too great and are happy to remain where they are for now.”
Equally, Neilson observed that many have navigated a challenging period and are now actually more engaged in their current business and keen to stay and deliver on existing strategies.
He also noted that Australia’s resource-rich states are performing particularly well at the moment, with more HSE jobs in WA and QLD now, than ever before. With investment surging and competition amongst employers tight, Neilson said it’s been a challenge to keep a lid on salaries in these regions.
However, Neilson also said external economic factors are creating uncertainty for businesses. “Employers are making cautious decisions, not always immediately replacing people following resignations. Many are trying to determine impacts of cost pressure and look at where they can gain efficiencies in organisational design,” he said.
On the flip side, Neilson said the rising cost of living is motivating many HSE professionals to prioritise job security. As consecutive interest rate rises bite, it is becoming harder to entice people to leave a stable job. “Employers seeking to hire should highlight stability and continue to be clear about their employee value proposition (EVP),” said Neilson.
In the first half of 2024 Neilson predicted more cost-out restructuring will take place. “Businesses will look to reduce costs and ‘people’, often their most significant cost, which will result in reorganisation. Safety resources may in turn be reduced to meet cost savings targets,” he said.
While this is an unfortunate reality of the current economic cycle, Neilson said it will mean that employers will start to see better access to talent next year, enabling them to successfully hire and lift capability within their teams.
“Greater utilisation of interim contractors is one strategy being used by businesses to control costs. This can be an effective approach for fulfilling short term needs without adding to permanent headcount,” said Neilson.
Contracts are most frequently being used to provide support to existing team members who may be taking on additional responsibilities, helping to deliver on specific projects to enable existing teams to focus on BAU, and/or balance out capacity/capability gaps.
“Often bringing in someone with a specialised skill set can enable teams to deliver on key projects in both a time and cost-efficient manner,” Neilson added.
There are a number of important implications in the above for job candidates, according to Neilson, who often sees a seasonal slowdown occur over the Christmas/New Year period.
“This is to be expected,” he said. “While waiting for more permanent roles to become available, it could be worth considering a short-term contract to tide you over the silly season.”
By remaining open to contract work, Neilson said HSE professionals may reap additional benefits such as cross-sector experience, exposure to new systems or processes, or valuable project-based work.
“In a market that is shifting from one that has been heavily candidate driven to a more balanced employer driven market it is important for candidates to be even clearer on their reasons for moving, their value proposition to a potential employer and the potential career opportunities a move may enable,” said Neilson.
“There is a strong focus by employers around uplifting capability across all areas and those who can demonstrate they bring something more will benefit, meaning continuing to invest in your own growth and development is critical.”
As with every part of business and society, technology and AI are becoming a bigger part of work, and Neilson said that understanding the intersection between technology and health and safety and where it can enable improved risk management practices is a skill set that will be sought out by potential future employers in certain positions. “Learning and upskilling in this area will be of benefit moving forward,” he said.While the HSE job market has softened slightly over the past quarter, following a period of significant and sustained growth, job opportunities in the health, safety, wellbeing and environment sectors look promising in 2024.
A recent research report found that advertised HSE roles are 9.9 per cent higher than they were this time last year and are a significantly 96.4 per cent higher than two years ago, according to Aaron Neilson, CEO of The Safe Step, which recently released its latest HSE Job Opportunities Index.
Recent dips (down 2.2 per cent in the past three months) have not eroded the substantial growth experienced post-COVID, while demand for environmental health advisors increased by 9 per cent and demand for HSE managers softened slightly, down 4 per cent in the past quarter.
“For an extended period, we have seen a significant gap between supply and demand. While some observers might have expected tightening economic conditions to close the gap, we are yet to see any meaningful shift in talent shortages,” said Neilson.
“Why is this? While employer demand has indeed dropped slightly, the number of people actively looking for new jobs has also decreased. Health and safety professionals are naturally risk averse. Many consider the risk of moving to be too great and are happy to remain where they are for now.”
Equally, Neilson observed that many have navigated a challenging period and are now actually more engaged in their current business and keen to stay and deliver on existing strategies.
He also noted that Australia’s resource-rich states are performing particularly well at the moment, with more HSE jobs in WA and QLD now, than ever before. With investment surging and competition amongst employers tight, Neilson said it’s been a challenge to keep a lid on salaries in these regions.
However, Neilson also said external economic factors are creating uncertainty for businesses. “Employers are making cautious decisions, not always immediately replacing people following resignations. Many are trying to determine impacts of cost pressure and look at where they can gain efficiencies in organisational design,” he said.
On the flip side, Neilson said the rising cost of living is motivating many HSE professionals to prioritise job security. As consecutive interest rate rises bite, it is becoming harder to entice people to leave a stable job. “Employers seeking to hire should highlight stability and continue to be clear about their employee value proposition (EVP),” said Neilson.
In the first half of 2024 Neilson predicted more cost-out restructuring will take place. “Businesses will look to reduce costs and ‘people’, often their most significant cost, which will result in reorganisation. Safety resources may in turn be reduced to meet cost savings targets,” he said.
While this is an unfortunate reality of the current economic cycle, Neilson said it will mean that employers will start to see better access to talent next year, enabling them to successfully hire and lift capability within their teams.
“Greater utilisation of interim contractors is one strategy being used by businesses to control costs. This can be an effective approach for fulfilling short term needs without adding to permanent headcount,” said Neilson.
Contracts are most frequently being used to provide support to existing team members who may be taking on additional responsibilities, helping to deliver on specific projects to enable existing teams to focus on BAU, and/or balance out capacity/capability gaps.
“Often bringing in someone with a specialised skill set can enable teams to deliver on key projects in both a time and cost-efficient manner,” Neilson added.
There are a number of important implications in the above for job candidates, according to Neilson, who often sees a seasonal slowdown occur over the Christmas/New Year period.
“This is to be expected,” he said. “While waiting for more permanent roles to become available, it could be worth considering a short-term contract to tide you over the silly season.”
By remaining open to contract work, Neilson said HSE professionals may reap additional benefits such as cross-sector experience, exposure to new systems or processes, or valuable project-based work.
“In a market that is shifting from one that has been heavily candidate driven to a more balanced employer driven market it is important for candidates to be even clearer on their reasons for moving, their value proposition to a potential employer and the potential career opportunities a move may enable,” said Neilson.
“There is a strong focus by employers around uplifting capability across all areas and those who can demonstrate they bring something more will benefit, meaning continuing to invest in your own growth and development is critical.”
As with every part of business and society, technology and AI are becoming a bigger part of work, and Neilson said that understanding the intersection between technology and health and safety and where it can enable improved risk management practices is a skill set that will be sought out by potential future employers in certain positions. “Learning and upskilling in this area will be of benefit moving forward,” he said.
