Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) – the federal agency that tracks workforce demand – released a fresh labour-market snapshot today showing national online job advertisements edged 0.8 percent higher in August 2026. The update comes just days after the Home Affairs Minister signalled a more selective migration program and provides timely evidence that critical shortages remain in construction, healthcare and teaching – the same sectors now prioritised under the new Ministerial Directions 121 and 122. According to JSA, vacancy growth was strongest in regional New South Wales and Western Australia’s resource hubs, with employers continuing to post multiple rounds of advertisements for civil engineers, aged-care nurses and secondary-STEM teachers. The agency notes that advertised salaries for several trade roles are running 14 percent above the same period last year, underscoring the wage pressure created by unfilled positions. For mobility managers the data is a double-edged sword. On one hand, the government’s new priority queues should accelerate skilled-visa decisions for these occupations; on the other, tighter caps on net overseas migration mean fewer applicants overall will be admitted. Multinationals may therefore need to supplement permanent visas with short-term secondments or remote delivery models. JSA chief economist Cassie McDonald said the figures “demonstrate ongoing, geographically concentrated shortages that will not abate without targeted migration and domestic training.” She added that the agency’s forthcoming Occupation Shortage Report would map demand against the new Core Skills List used for visa processing, giving businesses an early indicator of which roles might still face delays even under the revised system. Global-mobility teams are advised to cross-check assignment lead-times against the updated processing priorities and to budget for premium salary packages in the hotspot regions identified in today’s release.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia
