The Pile Is Bigger. The People You Want Aren’t In It

If you've advertised a role this year, you've probably noticed applications coming in faster than anyone can read them. SEEK's numbers back that up. Applications per job ad have risen every month since January and hit a new peak in its September report, while job ads are still down on last year.

On paper, that sounds like a buyer's market. More people, fewer roles, take your pick.

It doesn't feel like that when you're actually hiring. There's a reason for that.

More applicants, not better ones

SEEK's September 2026 Employment Report had job ads down 3.5% on the year and applications per ad up another 1.7% in a month. The ABS put unemployment at 4.7% in September, with 39,000 fewer people employed than in August.

So yes, more people are looking. But volume and fit aren't the same thing.

A bigger pile means more time screening, more applications from people a long way off the brief, and a real chance the one strong candidate gets buried somewhere around application 140. More choice only helps if you can find the good ones in it. Quickly.

The people you want aren't moving

Here's the other half. The ABS only measures job mobility once a year, and its latest figures, released in July, show it at 7.2%. That's down from 7.7% the year before and the lowest in records going back to 1972. Just over a million people changed employers in the whole year.

People are staying put. Often that includes the ones employers want most: settled, valued, doing good work, and not scrolling job boards on a Tuesday night.

That's no knock on anyone actively looking. Plenty of great people are between roles right now through no fault of their own. But if your ideal hire is employed and reasonably happy, they're not in your applicant pile. They need a reason to move, and someone has to give them one.

Softer market, same shortages

It's tempting to read a softer market as permission to slow down. Take an extra week to decide. Come in a bit lower on salary. Add another interview round.

The trouble is, the softening isn't even. In SEEK's September report, job ads overall were down 3.5% on last year but up 14.6% in mining, resources and energy, 12.1% in engineering and 9.5% in construction. Here in Queensland, trend unemployment was 4.5% in September. That's up from 4.1% a year ago, but still under the national 4.6%.

So depending on the role, you could be hiring in a soft market or a very tight one. Usually you find out which when your preferred candidate takes another offer.

What that means if you're hiring

None of this needs a complete rethink. A few things make a real difference:

• Know what actually matters. With big applicant numbers, a vague brief gets you a vague shortlist. Settle your must-haves before the ad goes up.
• Move at the speed of the candidate you want. Strong people usually have options, even now. Long gaps between interviews are where they drift off.
• Put the salary on the table early. Someone who isn't looking won't sit through three rounds to find out the number doesn't work.
• Look beyond the ad. If the person you need is happily employed, an ad alone probably won't reach them. That's where a proper search, a referral or a recruiter who knows the market earns their keep.
• Give people a reason. Settled candidates move for something: the work, the team, flexibility, progression. Be able to say what yours is.

More applications isn't the same as more options. The market's handed employers a bigger pile. Finding the right person in it, or outside it, is still the job.