The ANZ Job Advertisement Series shows the number of internet and newspaper advertisements declining by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in March, following a 2.1% fall in February. In NSW, newspaper job ads are the lowest since 1983, and in Victoria since 1993 – both being recession years.

The index is being read as a lead economic indicator, portending a slowing economy.

However, there are other factors in play. What we might be seeing is a growing dissatisfaction with advertising as a means of attracting qualified and motivated applicants and a shift in the way employers attract candidates.

Recruiters and employers are becoming increasingly disenchanted with advertising, particularly on sites such as Seek, MyCareer and Career One because the response can be large, but the quality thin.

There was a time when applying for a job involved writing a resume and letter of application, buying an envelope, licking a stamp and a trip to a post box. It was a group of tasks that took a little effort and time. Now, an application involves storing your resume online and clicking the Apply Now button at the bottom of the ad. It’s too easy, and as a consequence, advertisers receive many more applications – but the vast majority are wildly inappropriate.

Advertise for someone senior such as a General Manager or a Chief Financial Officer and applications will arrive from people whose experience is limited to baby sitting and dog walking. God help you if the gig is identified as being with a high profile or somewhat s-xy company, because the responses will be interspersed with “but I love that company, I shop there and I always wanted to work there”.

Smart employers are introducing measures such as employee referral programs and direct approaches to likely candidates to improve the flowof strong candidates.

In other words, the downturn in job advertisements might not paint the whole picture. It might be a result of a shift in candidate sourcing methods and of a labour shortage, rather than a job drought.

Rob Lake publishes Brandish – a newsletter about retail intelligence.