Australia’s job market is shrinking, with employment platform behemoth SEEK reporting a sharp drop in job advertisements in the past year and warning the next few months will likely remain tough ones for job hunters.

In its annual report for the 2024 financial year, the company reported a 20 per cent fall in advertisements, which it said was consistent “with a range of employment indicators such as the rise in unemployment and the slowdown in job vacancies and mobility”.

SEEK CEO Ian Narev said the darkened picture would likely continue in the near-term.

“For FY2025, economists are forecasting weaker macroeconomic conditions in most of our markets,” he said.

“Based on our historical experience of similar conditions, we have assumed that paid ad volumes in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) will continue to decline throughout financial year 2025.”

Australia’s unemployment rate currently sits at 4.1 per cent and banking giant Westpac expects it to rise to 4.5 per cent by the middle of next year.

The lower job ad numbers hit SEEK’s bottom line hard, with the company reporting a 17 per cent fall in revenues to $1.16bn from the prior year and a $101m loss.

“SEEK’s headline financial outcomes for the year were impacted by a significant reduction in job ad volumes across APAC relative to previous record highs and the impairment of our investment in Zhaopin,” Mr Narev said.

In late July, SEEK reported a $141m impairment charge on its investment in Zhaopin, a Chinese recruitment services company.

SEEK blamed challenges in China’s economic recovery for the writedown.

“In terms of employment markets, blue-collar employment has performed considerably better than the white-collar market in which Zhaopin primarily operates,” the company said.

SEEK’s share price collapsed on Tuesday morning, sinking 8.5 per cent to wipe out about $600m in value from the company.