A CLUE to Docklands’ workforce

A recent study shows that Docklands is fast becoming Melbourne’s finance and insurance centre.

City of Melbourne’s Census of Land Use and Employment (CLUE) 2012 report shows that the finance and insurance sector accounts for 31.8 per cent of all employment in Docklands.

According to the report, the sector’s workforce is made up of about 12,148 people and occupies 223,120 sqm of commercially-occupied space.

This news comes as no surprise considering ANZ, Bendigo Bank, NAB, AXA and Medibank all have headquarters located in Docklands.

And the industry’s Docklands-based workforce is set to grow with the Commonwealth Bank also set to relocate its Melbourne headquarters to Docklands.

Information media and telecommunications was the second-largest employer, accounting for 12.6 per cent of Docklands’ workforce.

Industry heavyweights The Age, Channel 7 and Channel 9 all have head offices in Docklands, making the media industry one Docklands’ largest employers.

This is followed by public administration and safety, which employs 11.4 per cent of the workforce and the business services industry, which accounts for 7.9 per cent.

The CLUE report also revealed that Docklands businesses are, on average, larger than those in the CBD.

Docklands businesses employ an average of 45 people per business, compared with 28 people per business in the city.

While the retail vacancy rate has risen slightly in the past two years (from 18.4 per cent to 20.8 per cent), the office vacancy rate has declined (from 5.6 per cent to 2.1 per cent).

The report also showed that since 2006 Docklands estimated residential population has almost doubled.

The report estimated that Docklands population has grown by 48 per cent to 6216 people compared with a 24 per cent growth in the wider Melbourne municipal residential population.