Australia’s jobs market is becoming increasingly difficult for job seekers, with new data revealing one in five people looking for work say there are too many applicants competing for available positions.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows that 20 per cent of people who looked for work during the last financial year identified “too many applicants for available jobs” as their biggest difficulty.

The problem was reported more frequently by men, with 27 per cent identifying competition from other applicants as their main barrier, compared with just over 15 per cent of women.

“Just over one in four men reported their main difficulty was ‘too many applicants for available jobs’, while about one in seven said lacking training, qualifications or experience was theirs,” ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.

“For women, the main difficulty was split almost equally between those two barriers.”

More than four in five Australians who wanted a job, were actively looking for work and could start within a month reported difficulties finding employment, according to the ABS data.

The findings come amid growing competition for technology jobs, with data released earlier this month revealing that only six tech occupations in Australia now face worker shortages, down from seven last year.

Two new roles have been added to the shortage list: cybersecurity advice and assessment specialists, and penetration testers.

Research last year also found that Australian employers were being inundated with job applications, many of which were unsuitable for the positions advertised.

The growing volume of applications has also contributed to frustration among job seekers, many of whom report being ghosted by prospective employers.

The barriers to finding work

The ABS data highlights a range of other obstacles facing Australian job seekers.

These include a lack of suitable jobs or working arrangements, limited opportunities in their local area or chosen occupation, and concerns about being considered too old by employers.

More than a third of men said their most important consideration when looking for work was finding a job that matched their skills and experience.

Support for training or further study to improve their skills, followed by access to mentorship, were also important factors.

For women, the ability to work part-time hours was the most important consideration, followed by finding a position that matched their skills and experience.

Women were also more likely than men to be among those who wanted employment but could not start within the next month.

Of those women, 40 per cent identified caring for children as their biggest barrier to starting work.

Meanwhile, nearly one in five part-time workers said they wanted more hours, with 90 per cent of those workers available to start working additional hours within four weeks.

Among part-time workers who could not take on more hours within the next month, long-term health conditions were the biggest barrier.

A softening jobs market

The latest findings add to evidence that Australia's labour market is losing some of the tightness seen in recent years, with job applications increasing as competition for advertised positions grows.

Research has previously identified a significant increase in applications for technology roles, while Seek data shows applications per job advertisement have risen by nearly 20 per cent compared with last year.

Australia's unemployment rate is now 4.7 per cent, while the participation rate is just under 67 per cent.

This marks a shift from 2022, when the labour market reached historically tight levels during the COVID pandemic.

At the time, unemployment fell to 3.4 per cent and the participation rate rose to just over 67 per cent.

The tight labour market drove a surge in advertised vacancies and persistent skills shortages across a range of occupations, including technology, healthcare and construction.

Wage growth also peaked as employers competed more aggressively to attract and retain workers.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said this month that there were now signs of “some easing of labour market conditions”.

“It's unsurprising to see a tick up in unemployment in the face of global volatility and the war in the Middle East, which has contributed to higher interest rates in Australia and around the world,” Chalmers said in a statement.

“Despite all the pressures coming at us, Australia’s labour market remains resilient and one of our greatest strengths.”