As employers ramp up for the busy summer period, hospitality and tourism job ads surged 3.6 per cent in August, a report by employment marketplace Seek showed on Thursday.
Even adjusted for the usual seasonal bump at this time of year, ad volumes in the sector were up a significant 6.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with demand for wait staff up 11 per cent and ads for cooks rising six per cent.
Seek's chief economist Blair Chapman said the figures suggest firms were front-loading hiring in this financial year.
"They're preparing for that surge in sales come Black Friday and the summer event season," he told AAP.
"So it's above our normal seasonality, but it's coming off sort of low base."
The spike in demand for jobs comes as the sector braces for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to announce sweeping changes to Australia's migration settings at the National Press Club on Thursday.
Wes Lambert, chief executive of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association, said hospitality companies were already hurting after the government's move in July to freeze working-holiday-maker visas, which are especially relied on by regional employers.
"We're going into the shoulder and high season for tourism and hospitality and they have cut the accommodation and food service industry off at the knees," he said.Â
"In one month since the government has announced policy by stealth, we have seen a skyrocketing in job listings on Seek from the mid-40,000s to the mid-60,000s of open positions."
As the housing pipeline ramps up to try meet Australia's chronic supply shortage, builders have also faced a challenge to find skilled workers.
Construction job ads grew 10.7 per cent in the year to August.
"We do have massive house-building cycles and investment cycles," Dr Chapman said.
"We saw a bit of a slowdown a couple of years ago, and there's a bit of a surge again at the moment."
Housing Industry Association managing director Jocelyn Martin said the residential construction industry was short 83,000 skilled workers.
"The solution is not moving workers from one sector to another. It is increasing the number of skilled people entering and completing trade careers," she said.
