2005 Sportspeople Jobs Index A survey of positions vacant advertisements in Australian Sport January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004 Job advertisements in the Australian sport sector continue to grow, with 1,961 positions advertised over the period January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004 an increase of 23% on the 2003 calendar year. The data shows the market continues to enjoy strong growth with the number of jobs in sport at its highest level in eight years, the third consecutive year above the previous high set during the Sydney Olympic & Paralympic Games recruitment drive of 1999/2000. Coaching and Instructor jobs topped the survey, while Community Sport, Leisure and Fitness Centres and the Government sector continued to lead the market in terms of employment opportunities. Jobs for Chief Executive Officers rose sharply in 2004 while opportunities for Project Officers/Coordinators and support areas of Administration remained high. Commenting on the 2004 Sportspeople Jobs Index, Sportspeople s Managing Director Robert McMurtrie, believes job prospects remain positive for the sport sector, maintaining an eightyear trend of growth. In terms of growth in job vacancies and outlook, the sport sector continues to remain positive and reasonably strong compared to other industry sectors and the national jobs market in general. With the national jobless rate at a 28 year low of 5% and the ANZ job ads survey showing steady increases in the number of job ads nationally over 2004, the sport sector is performing solidly although growth slowed a little from the high of 35% in 2003. he said. There were some consistent trends in sport sector jobs for 2004 with the employment growth for support personnel in particular project based staff, a steady supply of jobs for specialist coaches, strong demand within community Sport, Leisure & Fitness Centres, government agencies and a continued demand for sales & marketing staff he said. After experiencing three years of consecutive decline, demand for Chief Executive Officers rose sharply in 2004 while the number of jobs for middle and senior managers was steady but very strong once again. A similar spike in CEO roles was evident in 2000, possibility suggesting CEO tenure is linked to the Olympiad and Paralympiad 4 year cycle. he said. Local, state and federal government agencies, including the Academies and Institutes of Sport, make a massive contribution to employment accounting for over 24% of all jobs in 2004. The 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games also made a positive impact, with 150 jobs advertised over the period while initiatives such as the Active After School Communities (AASC) program, the corner-stone of the Australian Government s Building a Healthy Active Australia package, played a significant role in the jobs market with 131 appointments across Australia in 2004. he said. Our monthly tracking of job vacancies throughout 2004 indicates the spread of positions vacant advertisements is relatively constant. December/January are the slowest months while March/August the busiest for job ads while the use of Internet (on-line) advertising over newspaper advertising continued to grow. he said. Page 1
While the Sportspeople Jobs Index is the best available measure of jobs advertisements in the sport sector, it must be emphasised that many vacancies are filled without advertising. The 2004 appointment of Craig Phillips as Secretary-General of the Australian Olympic Committee (following Bob Elphinstone s retirement) is just one example of the benefits of effective succession planning. Larger organisations in particular enjoy the benefits of effective HR strategies with an emphasis on career management of their staff, encouraging and promoting internal appointments rather than always going to market. Consistent with other industry sectors, we estimate up to 60% of positions filled in the sport sector are filled without the need to advertise externally. he said McMurtrie concluded by indicating the outlook remains positive for skilled people looking for work in the sport sector and shows no real signs of slowing in 2005. Highlights of the 2004 Sportspeople Jobs Index include: Administrative support staff (118), Receptionists (46), Personal Assistants (42) represented 10.5% of all jobs advertised for the survey period. There were twenty one (21) Traineeships advertised for the period, providing entry-level sport management opportunities. Jobs for Coaching and Instructor (256) personnel were strong, with the number of specialist coaching jobs available within schools and community organisations growing. Sales and Marketing (175) slipped from the top three spot for the first time in four years, representing 8.8% of the total number of jobs advertised, and slightly down in total number of jobs from 2003 (178). The number of positions at Chief Executive level (66) was up from the 28 jobs in 2003, reversing the trend over the past three years. Government Agencies (479) including the Australian Sports Commission, State & local Governments and Academies/Institutes of Sport were the largest employer group, maintaining a top two position for the seventh consecutive survey period, representing 24.4% of all positions advertised. Fitness & Leisure Centres (277) and Aquatic Centres (124) maintained their position in the top two employer group representing 20.4% of all positions vacant advertised over the period and an increase of 107 positions from the 2003 survey period. Apart from the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games recruitment drive, the Active After School Communities (AASC) program, with (123) Senior and Regional Coordinators and (8) State Coordinators, was the largest single recruitment effort in 2004. YMCA (94), University Sport (92), AFL (40), Soccer (25), Surf Life Saving (30) and Swimming (26) led the way for mainstream sport organisations. Data from the 2004 Sportspeople Jobs Index is shown in the following tables by Job Category (Table One) and by Employer Category (Table Two). Page 2
Table One: Total number of Sport Jobs advertised for the period January 1 December 31 2004 compared to January 1 December 31 2004 shown in Job Category: Job Category 2003 2004 %Total Growth Coach/Instructor 232 256 13.05% 24 Project Officer/Co-ordinator 89 250 12.75% 161 Fitness Specialist 94 200 10.20% 106 Sales and Marketing 178 175 8.92% -3 Administration Support 86 118 6.02% 32 Facility/Venue Management 119 108 5.51% -11 Development 85 105 5.35% 20 Lifeguards/Pool Attendants 63 91 4.64% 28 Senior Management 88 88 4.49% 0 Event Management 34 76 3.88% 42 Chief Executive (General Manager) 28 66 3.37% 38 Operations/Logistics 87 48 2.45% -39 Accounting/Finance 55 47 2.40% -8 Administration Receptionist 37 46 2.35% 9 Customer Service 52 43 2.19% -9 Administration - Personal Assistant 28 42 2.14% 14 Recreation Management 35 25 1.27% -10 Director/Board Member 11 24 1.22% 13 Career/Education/Teaching 27 24 1.22% -3 Journalist/Reporter/Communications 31 23 1.17% -8 Retail/Point of Sale 17 22 1.12% 5 Traineeships 19 21 1.07% 2 Information Technology (IT) 22 14 0.71% -8 Umpire/Referee/Official 24 12 0.61% -12 Retail Management 14 10 0.51% -4 Human Resources 13 10 0.51% -3 Medicine/Sports Science 14 10 0.51% -4 Membership 0 5 0.25% 5 Legal 5 2 0.10% -3 TOTAL 1587 1961 100.00% 374 Notes for Table One: Employer Category data is shown in descending order, based on the number of positions vacant advertisement for each category for the period January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004. (1) Growth the difference between January December 2004 compared to January December 2003 data. Figures are expressed as either negative or positive growth. Page 3
Table Two: Total number of Sport Jobs advertised for the period January December, 2004 compared to January December, 2004 shown in Employer Category: Employer Category 2003 2004 %Total *URZWK Fitness/Leisure Centres 210 277 14.13% 67 Australian Sports Commission 61 168 8.57% 107 Local Government/Councils 135 153 7.80% 18 Commonwealth/Olympic Games 54 150 7.65% 96 Aquatic Centres 84 124 6.32% 40 State Government 82 97 4.95% 15 YMCA 52 94 4.79% 42 Universities/TAFE/Colleges 101 92 4.69% -9 Academies/Institutes of Sport 38 61 3.11% 23 General (Not specified) 66 61 3.11% -5 Sport Services 19 60 3.06% 41 Venue Management Companies 35 42 2.14% 7 AFL 38 40 2.04% 2 Basketball 52 39 1.99% -13 Soccer 25 32 1.63% 7 Surf/Life Saving 15 30 1.53% 15 Swimming 46 26 1.33% -20 Schools 34 23 1.17% -11 Cricket 34 23 1.17% -11 Event Management Companies 33 23 1.17% -10 Hockey 27 22 1.12% -5 Tennis 24 21 1.07% -3 Golf 46 21 1.07% -25 Sports Media 24 18 0.92% -6 Netball 17 18 0.92% 1 Disability Sports 25 16 0.82% -9 Racing 9 16 0.82% 7 Sports Equipment/Apparel 27 16 0.82% -11 Sports Marketing Companies 2 15 0.76% 13 Page 4
Athletics 21 14 0.71% -7 Cycling 5 13 0.66% 8 Yachting/Sailing 8 12 0.61% 4 Rowing 6 12 0.61% 6 Rugby Union 14 12 0.61% -2 Gymnastics 9 10 0.51% 1 Outdoor Education 0 10 0.51% 10 Rugby League 10 8 0.41% -2 PCYC 0 8 0.41% 8 Resorts/hospitality/theme parks 24 7 0.36% -17 Baseball 5 6 0.31% 1 Skate 1 6 0.31% 5 Sports Medicine 0 6 0.31% 6 Touch Football 8 6 0.31% -2 Equestrian 3 6 0.31% 3 Bowling (Lawn) 2 5 0.25% 3 Motor Sport 10 5 0.25% -5 Triathlon 3 4 0.20% 1 Shooting 0 4 0.20% 4 Canoeing 2 4 0.20% 2 Squash 2 3 0.15% 1 Water Sports 0 3 0.15% 3 Softball 1 3 0.15% 2 Volleyball 5 2 0.10% -3 Masters Games 0 2 0.10% 2 Water Polo 0 2 0.10% 2 Badminton 2 2 0.10% 0 Peak Bodies 0 2 0.10% 2 Ten Pin Bowling 4 2 0.10% -2 Women's Sport 2 2 0.10% 0 Ten Pin Bowling 4 1 0.05% -3 Skiing 14 1 0.05% -13 Page 5
Olympic Games 3 0 0.00% -3 Police 2 0 0.00% -2 Sports Recruitment 2 0 0.00% -2 Corporate Games 1 0 0.00% -1 Table Tennis 1 0 0.00% -1 Archery 0 0 0.00% 0 TOTAL 1587 1961 100.00% 374 Notes for Table Two: Job Category data is shown in descending order, based on the number of positions vacant advertisement for each category for the period January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004. (1) Growth the difference between January December 2004 compared to January December 2003 data. Figures are expressed as either negative or positive growth. About the Sportspeople Jobs Index The Sportspeople Report has been published annually since the inaugural survey of 1996/97 and is regarded as the leading industry survey of employment opportunities in the Australian sport management sector. Due to a change in the methodology engaged to measure the frequency of positions vacant from 1 July, 2001 the Sportspeople Report has been re-named the Sportspeople Jobs Index. For Sportspeople Reports up to 30 June, 2001 all figures were based on sport employment positions vacant advertisements appearing in the Weekend Australian and Saturday edition of The Sydney Morning Herald only. From 1 July, 2001 the Sportspeople Jobs Index also includes a daily tally of sport employment positions vacant advertisements appearing at the major job websites including www.mycareer.com.au, www.careerone.com.au, www.seek.com.au and the Sportspeople Jobs Market at www.sportspeople.com.au. These websites and this methodology represent the best measurement tools for sport employment positions vacant in Australia. About Sportspeople: Established in 1996, Sportspeople was the first agency in Australia to launch as a sport recruitment specialist and is now regarded as the national, market leader across sport, leisure, fitness and aquatics. Sportspeople recruits in Australia and New Zealand across the full spectrum of sport management including executive appointments, middle management and administrative support. A list of past appointments is available at the Sportspeople website www.sportspeople.com.au The Sportspeople Jobs Market at the Sportspeople website is Australia's most comprehensive jobs-board of positions vacant in sport, leisure, fitness and aquatics with over 11,000 unique visitors each week, and growing. Page 6
The Sportspeople Jobs Index is collated and published by Sportspeople annually and compliments the Sportspeople Workplace Survey, published each year. Back copies of the Sportspeople Jobs Index and Sportspeople Workplace Surveys are available at the Sportspeople website (Library) www.sportspeople.com.au or by contacting Sportspeople: National Recruitment Centre 80 Darling Street Balmain East NSW 2041 Tel: (02) 9555 5000 Fax: (02)9555 7612 Email admin@sportspeople.com.au Released by Sportspeople 11 March, 2005 End Sportspeople Pty Ltd International Recruitment Centre 80 Darling Street Balmain East NSW 2041 t: (02)9555 5000 f: (02) 9555 7612 m:(0413) 838464 email: admin@sportspeople.com.au web: www.sportspeople.com.au www.sportspeople.co.nz www.sportspeople.co.uk Melbourne Level 8, 350 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000 FREECALL: 1800 634 388 Bringing job seekers and employers together since 1996. Page 7