New research has revealed that many finance, insurance and real estate firms are seeking to hire more staff in the March quarter.

This may come as a surprise given Australia’s falling home prices or recent jobs data shared by the ABS, yet the demand for workers has evidently not been impacted negatively.  

A survey from Manpower Group revealed that the net proportion of finance, insurance and real estate firms looking to hire additional staff in the March quarter has remained at a rather high percentage of 15% - a result unchanged from that record in the same period a year prior.

The group said: “While the outlook is softer quarter-on-quarter it remains in positive territory and is further evidence that the Royal Commission into the Banking sector has failed to significantly effect hiring intentions while the decline in property prices across the country has also failed to dent the employment outlook across the sector.”

This contrasts with data released by the ABS, which reported that in the three months to November 2018, employment in the financial and insurance services industry decreased by 1,000 workers, while employment in rental, hiring and real estate services declined by 9,500 workers.

Meanwhile, results in the December quarter Manpower survey revealed that a net 21% of finance, insurance and real estate firms said that they are planning to increase headcount. This marks the greatest percentage in years.

The difference in results, however, could be attributed to several reasons – such as smaller firms hiring more staff as apposed to larger firms, and volatility in the ABS data.