Easier to hire, not cheaper to hire, what SEEK’s new data means for SMEsNew SEEK data shows job ads down 5.8% annually, but applications per ad just hit a record high. Australian job ads keep shrinking, but the pay on offer for the roles that remain keeps climbing. Month-on-month growth came in at 0.3%, faster than the previous two months but slower than the 0.4% recorded in March. “Job ads continued their incremental decline in June, due to subdued hiring activity in the Professional and Public sectors,” he said. Government and Defence job ads fell 16.8% annually, Call Centre and Customer Service dropped 14.6%, and Retail and Consumer Products declined 12.9%.