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Australian employers pulled back sharply on hiring and hours across healthcare, hospitality, retail and services in June, according to the latest Hourly Work Index from workforce management platform Deputy, as businesses braced for the Fair Work Commission’s award wage increase taking effect from 1 July.
The data aligns with Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force figures showing headline employment rose by 76,300 in June, but 62 per cent of those gains were part-time roles, with 47,000 part-time positions added. Overall hours worked grew just 0.2 per cent, lagging behind job growth of 0.5 per cent – a pattern that suggests employers added headcount cautiously without committing to additional hours.
The Headline Numbers
Deputy’s index, built from anonymised and aggregated platform data across four sectors, recorded an 11 per cent month-on-month decline in total hours worked to 20.6 million across healthcare, hospitality, retail and services.
New hires fell 22.9 per cent month-on-month across all sectors, following a 14.6 per cent decline in May. The pace of the hiring pullback is accelerating.
Average hourly pay held flat at $36.13, reflecting the fact that employers are not required to apply the Fair Work Commission’s new award rates until the first full pay period on or after 1 July. June represents the last month at current-year rates.
Predictable scheduling – the average lead time for locking in shifts – increased 27.7 per cent to 8.3 days ahead, consistent with businesses locking in shift patterns and labour costs before the new award rates take effect.
Ciaran Hale, Chief Technology Officer at Deputy, framed the data as evidence of deliberate planning rather than panic.
“June’s data shows Australian employers becoming far more intentional in how they manage their workforce. Rather than continuing to hire through uncertainty, businesses pulled back on recruitment, reduced hours and, at the same time, increased roster planning well ahead of the July wage changes,” Hale explained.
“When you have access to live workforce data, you can model labour costs before decisions are made instead of reacting afterwards.”
Hale added that the businesses adapting fastest to changing economic conditions would not necessarily be those spending less. “They’ll be the ones making better-informed decisions earlier, using technology to balance compliance, labour costs and employee stability.”
Rate Rises Weigh On Spending
The RBA held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent in June after three increases since February, and household spending has decreased in response to those rises. The combination of tighter monetary policy and the pending wage step-up created a dual pressure on employers across award-reliant sectors.
The Fair Work Commission announced on 2 June that award wages and the National Minimum Wage would increase between 4.75 and 6 per cent from 1 July, giving employers a clear reason to defer hiring decisions until the new financial year and pay rates begin.
Healthcare Under Pressure
Healthcare is one of the sectors the Fair Work Commission and Westpac have identified as most exposed to the award wage increase, given its reliance on award and enterprise-agreement pay rates.
Shifts per employee fell 6.2 per cent to 10.6, while average hours per employee dropped 5.9 per cent to 73.3. New hires declined 22.1 per cent. Employee turnover fell 9.1 per cent, suggesting facilities are holding non-essential replacement hiring until the new pay rates and financial year begin.
The lead time for locking in shifts increased 31.1 per cent to 13.6 days – more than in any other sector – consistent with rosters being planned further out around the cost step-up.
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Average hourly pay in healthcare sat at $40.42, down 0.4 per cent, with an average shift pay of $266.
Within the healthcare sector, care facilities recorded the largest increase in scheduling lead time of any sub-sector, jumping 73.2 per cent from 8.1 to 14.1 days. Deputy’s analysis noted that aged-care and disability-care is a sector with high rates of workers holding multiple jobs, persistent talent shortages and a large migrant workforce. Locking in shifts further ahead gives those workers more certainty and reflects a retention-related initiative from employers.
Hospitality Hit Hardest On Hiring
Hospitality, which covers accommodation and food services, is named specifically among the industries most exposed to the 4.75 per cent award increase.
New hires decreased 27.6 per cent – more than in any other sector in June. Shifts per employee fell 9 per cent to 10.5 and average hours per employee dropped 9 per cent to 70.2. Employee turnover declined 8.3 per cent.
Average hourly pay in hospitality was $34.21, up 0.2 per cent, with average shift pay holding flat at $206.
Predictable scheduling increased 24 per cent to 6.7 days ahead, though this remains the lowest advance-scheduling figure of any sector.
Deputy’s analysis linked the hiring pullback to three RBA rate increases decreasing household discretionary spending, alongside employers deferring decisions until costs reset on 1 July.
Bars recorded a 12.4 per cent decline in shifts and a 12.2 per cent drop in hours, in line with broader hospitality food and drink venues including fast food (down 14.4 per cent), sit-down restaurants (down 14.2 per cent) and cafes (down 12.8 per cent). Despite hosting big-screen coverage of both the FIFA World Cup and State of Origin, pubs and bars did not receive an offsetting lift from the sporting calendar, with the sector-wide pullback in dining and drinking out outweighing any additional foot traffic.
Retail Squeezed By Cost-Of-Living Pressures
Retail shifts and hours both decreased 7.7 per cent, consistent with reduced household spending following three RBA rate increases this year and the end of temporary fuel excise relief on 30 June, both adding to cost-of-living pressure.
New hires fell 25.9 per cent while hourly pay edged up 0.2 per cent to $34.02. Average shift pay was $209, down 0.3 per cent. Employee turnover declined 6.2 per cent.
Predictable scheduling increased 29 per cent to 9.6 days ahead. Retail is another sector flagged as heavily award-reliant, giving retailers reason to hold off on new roles until the wage increase and new financial year begin.
The tobacconist sub-sector recorded the largest shift decrease of any sub-sector in the entire index, with shifts falling 33.2 per cent. Deputy attributed this to the ongoing national crackdown on illicit tobacco and vape retail, including more than 200 NSW store closures since November 2025 and new WA tobacco and vaping laws from May 2026.
Services Sector Sees Rising Turnover
Services, which includes labour hire and administrative support, is also flagged by Westpac as heavily award-reliant. It was the only sector where employee turnover increased in June, rising 10.2 per cent, and the only one where average shift length decreased (down 0.5 per cent).
Shifts per employee fell 8.4 per cent to 10.7 and average hours per employee dropped 8.9 per cent to 72.2. New hires declined just 1.7 per cent – the smallest drop of any sector. Average hourly pay fell 1.2 per cent to $39.63 and average shift pay dropped 2.4 per cent to $239.
Predictable scheduling increased 34.6 per cent to 8.4 days ahead, the largest advance-scheduling jump of any sector. Deputy’s analysis described this combination as consistent with businesses restructuring shift patterns and staffing levels ahead of the new award rates.
The gambling sub-sector within services recorded the largest shift and hours increase anywhere in the index, with shifts up 52.4 per cent and hours up 58.9 per cent. June carried a heavy sporting calendar, with the FIFA World Cup kicking off on 12 June and the Socceroos playing three group matches during the month (14, 20 and 26 June), overlapping with State of Origin Game II’s record MCG crowd on 17 June. That combination of events is a likely driver of the increase in wagering activity.
Three Emerging Trends
Looking at the run of monthly data since January, Deputy’s index identified three emerging patterns.
First, shift volumes have moved in a down-up-down-up-down pattern for five straight months, but the overall trajectory is downward. Each decrease has been larger than the one before it – 4.5 per cent in February, 7 per cent in April and 11 per cent in June – while the increases in between have stayed around the same size.
Second, new hires have now decreased for two consecutive months and the pace is accelerating, from a 14.6 per cent decline in May to a 22.9 per cent drop in June.
Third, the average lead time for locking in shifts held steady at around 5.8 days from January to April, then increased in each of the last two months to 6.5 days in May and 8.3 days in June. This break from four months of stability lines up with the RBA’s rate increase in May and the Fair Work Commission’s wage decision in June, both giving businesses reason to plan shift patterns and labour costs further in advance.
Generational Pay Patterns
The index also tracked pay patterns by generation. Millennials had the highest average pay of any generation across all four sectors in June, topping $298 per shift in healthcare and $262 in services.
Gen Z workers had the lowest average pay in healthcare, hospitality and retail, consistent with their concentration in entry-level shifts. Boomers earned less than both Gen X and Millennials in healthcare, hospitality and retail, a pattern consistent with Boomers taking on part-time or lower-intensity shifts as they approach retirement.
Gen X recorded the largest single-sector pay decrease of any generation, with services pay falling 4.2 per cent month-on-month. Millennials recorded the only sector-level pay increase of any generation, with healthcare pay rising 0.7 per cent.
Methodology
Deputy’s Hourly Work Index is built from anonymised and aggregated customer and user data from the Deputy platform. The data is normalised to account for seasonal variations and shifts in demand throughout the week.
Last Updated on July 23, 2026 by Nick Ross
