In the June quarter of 2023, the number of staff employed in the labour hire supply services industry was higher than in the previous quarter and the same period a year ago, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The data showed that in June 2023, there were 327,100 people employed in the labour supply services industry, up from approximately 325,300 in the March quarter and up from 321,100 in June 2022.

Labour hire work is characterised by a third-party arrangement, where there is: an employment relationship between an individual employee and a labour hire firm, and a commercial arrangement between the labour hire firm and another business for the supply of the individual employee's labour, for a fee.

The 327,100 figure represented 2.3% of all employed people, steady from the previous quarter and from the same period a year ago. Of these people, 270,500 worked in labour supply services in their main job, up from 269,500 in the previous quarter and from 267,100 the year prior. There were 338,100 filled jobs in labour supply services (that is, 270,500 main jobs and 67,600 secondary jobs).

The data noted that over the past ten years the labour hire industry has accounted for between 2.0% and 2.7% of total employment.