28 Jul Unpacking the HSE Job Market: A Mid-Year Review (Jan-Jun 2025)
For those of you who follow us on LinkedIn, you’ll know we’re obsessed with tracking and dissecting the health and safety job scene. We’re talking about serious data crunching from Australia’s top job boards, SEEK and LinkedIn. In this blog, we release our six-month data, which is cross-checked against reports from the ABS, RBA, SEEK, and other industry specialists.
Spoiler Alert – While things might seem a little slower than last year, it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.
A Glimmer of Hope in 2025
Here’s the scoop: the HSE job market is proving to be pretty resilient, even if fewer jobs popped up compared to the same time in 2024. We’ve meticulously scoured 4,083 national health and safety job ads from January 1 to June 30, 2025. And, we’ve triple-checked our data – we’re only looking at genuine HSE roles.
What’s the difference? We saw a 12% dip in jobs compared to last year’s first half.
The Ups and Downs of the Market
The first half of 2025 was a bit of a rollercoaster, with jobs peaking and then dipping throughout the months.
March stole the show with 775 health and safety jobs advertised, with January right behind it at 740. On the flip side, April and June had the lowest numbers, with 606 and 560 jobs, respectively.
Compared to 2024, here’s how the monthly job ads fared:
Who’s Doing the Hiring?
The usual suspects were leading the charge in terms of locations:
- New South Wales (NSW)
- Queensland (QLD)
- Victoria (VIC)
State by State Showdown
Victoria elbowed its way back into third place, pushing Western Australia (WA) down. WA’s jobs took a 21% hit, while South Australia (SA) saw some impressive gains, jumping 13%. Queensland is still holding strong in second place, thanks to the booming construction and resource sectors.
Here’s a quick look at how the states performed compared to the same period last year:
Construction: Still the King of Jobs!
Just when we thought construction couldn’t possibly dominate any further, it did! Construction dominated the job ads in SA, QLD, NT, and NSW. Government roles led in ACT and TAS (no surprise there, given the public sector’s strong presence), while Manufacturing took the top spot in VIC and Mining in WA.
Nationally, the top 5 industries recruiting over the past six months were:
On the flip side, some industries saw double-digit drops:
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom! Some industries saw impressive rises:
What Level of Jobs Are We Seeing?
Good news for those starting out or in HSE advisor level roles: there were a steady flow of advisor and entry-level positions (think HSE Advisor, Senior HSE Advisor, HSE Consultant, HSE Business Partner, HSE Coordinator, HSE Administrator).
The executive market actually saw the biggest jump of any HSE job levels from 2024, increasing by over 16%! While this is exciting to see, remember it’s still the smallest piece of the pie. Unsurprisingly, executive jobs were mostly in the big cities: NSW (34%), VIC (23%), and QLD (18%).
The industries that were hiring the most executives included manufacturing, government, construction, and professional services.
May was the busiest month for executive roles (27 jobs), followed by January (22) and March (20), while February, April and June had much lower numbers.
What were the most in-demand HSE specialist roles? Workers Comp & IM professionals, with a 19% increase from 2024. This makes sense given the growing focus on psychological well-being.
Our Crystal Ball for the Remainder of 2025
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) mentioned in May 2025 that economic uncertainty is high, and businesses are being cautious. The US tariffs on China, our biggest trading partner, could have a ripple effect, even if the direct impact on Australia is small. This could result in fewer exports to China and higher import prices. On a brighter note, Australia’s unemployment rate remains steady at 4.3%, unchanged from last year.
The HSE profession is still essential, and there are good permanent opportunities out there, mostly in the $100K – $150K salary range. We’re also seeing HSE role mandates broadening, in some cases, to include enterprise risk, well-being, and sustainability.
We predict a steady demand for HSE Advisors, Injury Managers, and Mid-Level HSE Managers. However, the senior executive market may remain a bit slow as organisations continue to be cautious about higher-salary hires.
Growth industries are still growing! This includes health and aged care, education, renewables, and, in some states, construction. In fact, health and aged care kept us super busy in the first half of 2025.
On the flip side, organisations more broadly are generally looking to cut costs (this includes the public sector). This sometimes means less hiring of HSE consultants for projects, limited travel, recruitment freezes, no new tech investments, or, unfortunately, restructuring HSE functions, which can lead to senior-level redundancies. In Victoria, some major infrastructure projects are wrapping up, which could slow recruitment for top-tier construction firms for the first time in ages.
The Job Hunt is On: Competition is Fierce!
It’s a competitive job market out there – many HSE Professionals are considering their next move. This means recruitment processes are intense. When companies have a choice of great candidates, they get more specific about their “must-haves,” like industry experience, years of experience, tenure on CV’s and qualifications. The SEEK Employment Report for May 2025 backs this up, showing that applications per job ad are on the rise, proving that candidates are hungry for the available jobs.
We’re Your Secret Weapon!
Navigating the job market isn’t easy – perfecting your CV and acing interviews takes time. But, that’s what we’re here for! If you need a CV review, some interview tips, or insights into hiring trends, just reach out.
Want More HSE Recruitment Wisdom?
Check out these resources:
Our Data Sources (Because We’re All About Transparency!)
- ABS Labour Force Australia
- SEEK Employment Report May 2025
- Current Economic Conditions – data as at 15 May 2025
This blog was written by Helen O’Keefe, Managing Director of HOK Talent Solutions. Helen has been deeply involved in the health and safety profession for decades, working as both a recruiter and an HR Leader, often alongside HSE teams in the pharmaceutical and non-profit sectors.
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