Job ads have fallen for seven consecutive months in Australia, according to SEEK’s February Employment Report. But SEEK’s chief economist says AI is not the cause
What’s happening: SEEK’s February 2026 Employment Report and Advertised Salary Index show job ads have fallen for seven consecutive months, down 2.6 per cent year on year, while advertised salaries are rising at their fastest six-month pace since early 2024.
Why this matters: The jobs market is softening due to broad caution, not automation, but the skills landscape is shifting quickly and salary expectations are rising even as consumer purchasing power is squeezed.
Australia’s job market is cooling, but the story behind that cooling is more nuanced than the headlines about AI-driven layoffs might suggest. New data from SEEK’s February 2026 Employment Report and Advertised Salary Index points to a labour market shaped by caution and uncertainty rather than automation, even as AI skills become an increasingly standard expectation in job advertisements.
Job ads fell 0.5 per cent in February on a trend-adjusted basis, according to SEEK, marking the seventh consecutive month of small but consistent decline. On a quarterly basis ads are down 1.5 per cent, and annually the decline has accelerated to 2.6 per cent compared to February 2025.
Applications per job ad also dropped 0.6 per cent in January, continuing an incremental slowdown in candidate activity that began in mid-2025, according to SEEK. The report notes that applications per job ad data is recorded with a one-month lag.
Dr Blair Chapman, SEEK Chief Economist, said the trend reflects broad caution in the labour market rather than a structural collapse. “Ad volumes have been trending down slowly since mid-last year, trend adjusted. The downward trend is driven by broad caution in the labour market, and this may persist for some time as global uncertainty rises,” Chapman said.
AI is not the villain here
One of the more significant findings in this month’s SEEK report is what it says about the relationship between AI and job ad volumes. Despite widespread concern that AI and automation are eliminating roles, SEEK’s analysis suggests that is not what the data shows, at least not yet.
SEEK used automation exposure measures from Jobs and Skills Australia to analyse job ads across roles with low, medium and high exposure to AI-related automation. Job ads for occupations with low AI automation exposure have been growing at a slow but steady annual pace, according to SEEK. Occupations at the high and medium levels of AI exposure have been declining, but the rate of decline has slowed significantly over the past six months and is now near stagnant.
Chapman was direct about the implication. “While it may be tempting to attribute this decline to the rise of AI, our findings suggest automation is not yet having a negative impact on job ad volumes. The trend decline in key industries such as Consulting and Strategy and Information and Communication Technology predates the dispersion of large language models in the workplace, suggesting that it is not the result of automation,” he said.
At the same time, SEEK’s analysis found that references to AI-related skills in job ads have soared 83 per cent since early 2024 and are now almost three times their 2019 level, according to SEEK. References are most common in IT roles but the share of marketing and communications roles featuring AI terms has also grown sharply in recent years.
“Together, these findings suggest that AI and automation is not yet having a negative impact on job ad volumes and that the demand for AI skills is growing quickly and broadly,” Chapman said.
For small business owners, the practical takeaway is clear. AI is not eliminating the roles they are trying to fill. But candidates who can demonstrate AI skills are increasingly in demand, and that expectation is spreading beyond technical roles into marketing, communications and other functions.
Where hiring is still growing
Not all industries are softening equally. Five industries recorded annual job ad growth in February, according to SEEK, led by Construction at 11.5 per cent year on year, Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics at 6.1 per cent, Sports and Recreation at 2.6 per cent, Mining, Resources and Energy at 2.5 per cent and Trades and Services at 1.6 per cent.
The sharpest monthly declines were in Advertising, Arts and Media at 3.9 per cent, Consulting and Strategy at 3.3 per cent and Information and Communication Technology at 2.8 per cent, according to SEEK. On an annual basis, the largest declines were in Consulting and Strategy at 15.5 per cent, Banking and Financial Services at 14.3 per cent and Information and Communication Technology at 13.6 per cent.
Chapman noted the divergence points to continued demand in physical and cognitive roles. “There is widespread growth in industries including Construction, Insurance and Superannuation and Engineering, pointing to pockets of demand for physical and cognitive roles,” he said.
Geographically, Western Australia was the only state to record both monthly and annual job ad growth in February, according to SEEK, driven by Mining, Resources and Energy, Retail and Consumer Products and Construction. New South Wales fell 1.1 per cent month on month, Victoria 1.0 per cent and Queensland 0.8 per cent.
Salaries rising but relief is limited
The SEEK Advertised Salary Index for February adds a complicating layer to the picture. Advertised salaries rose 0.4 per cent month on month in February, extending six consecutive months of growth above 0.3 per cent, according to SEEK. Annual advertised salary growth reached 3.9 per cent year on year, with annualised growth over the past six months reaching 4.2 per cent, the fastest six-month pace since early 2024.
For small business owners setting salaries and managing wage expectations, that trajectory matters. Candidates are seeing higher advertised salaries and will have expectations to match.
But Chapman cautioned against reading the salary growth as straightforwardly good news for workers or households. “The faster advertised salary growth is unlikely to feel like much relief for many households. Consumer prices have started growing quickly again, mortgage costs are increasing, and global uncertainty has grown in ways that are likely to drive many household costs higher even faster than they are now,” he said.
For small business owners navigating hiring decisions right now, the SEEK data points to a market that is softer than it was 12 months ago but still moving. Candidates are applying in slightly lower numbers than at the peak, giving employers somewhat more breathing room. But salary expectations are rising and AI skills are increasingly expected across a broader range of roles.
The caution Chapman describes as driving the job ad decline is the same caution visible in the Employment Hero casual hiring data published earlier this week, which showed businesses favouring flexible arrangements over permanent roles as uncertainty builds. The RBA’s rate decision yesterday adds further weight to that caution.
All data in this article is sourced from SEEK’s February 2026 Employment Report and SEEK Advertised Salary Index. Commentary is attributed to Dr Blair Chapman, SEEK Chief Economist.
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