We are all getting used to having fresh data at our fingertips as we watch the pandemic unfold before our eyes and try to project today's numbers forward by a fortnight, working out the best- and worst-case scenarios using maths techniques our brains mothballed decades ago.
So as the tsunami of global numbers engulfs us, including confronting death rates and desperately big economic survival packages, it might seem odd to reach out and pluck out some local employment figures to view the trends.
But, given they are available and interesting, why not?
Osborne Park-based tech firm CV Check released its quarterly results today and used the opportunity to showcase how cutting edge it is in terms of its employment data (and how up to date it is).
The company has compared its March quarter revenue by sector with that of the past weeks since March 22, when the country shifted into various forms of lockdown.
The shift in some areas is, as expected, profound - and it is worth noting these numbers came after strong growth for CV Check but it has also cut director fees and reduced its board members to the statutory minimum.
CV Check CEO Rod Sherwood said the figures showed clearly where the pain was being felt most, as well as offering some key trends in this brief period for discerning observers.
Mr Sherwood said CV Check’s figures matched with those of LinkedIn, a business-focused social media platform it had partnered with.
He said his firm’s figures showed, unsurprisingly, that tourism, hospitality and education had stopped hiring. Also hardly unexpected is the rise in healthcare worker hiring compared to other sectors.
But intriguingly, there was also a massive explosion in recruitment firms, as many outward-facing government departments, agencies and businesses like financial services sought to hire staff quickly.
“They are dealing with an overwhelming situation,” Mr Sherwood told Business News.
Financial services, including banks, insurance groups and wealth managers, had been forced to expand local call centre capacity, in part because some offshore locations such as the Philippines had been shut down but also because consumers were desperate for clarity regarding their own circumstances.
Mr Sherwood noted there was some overlap.
Bouncers, for instance, security staff in his language, had found work in supermarkets managing the ebb and flow of patrons, which has at times flared-up embarrassingly in fights over toilet paper.
Telcos, too, and information communications technology companies in general had found they had to gear up not just to meet consumer requirements for information directly, but also to expand capacity as workers shifted to operating from home where possible.
It is pretty interesting stuff and, no doubt, will be a pattern that may be as volatile as the COVID-19 infection statistics as the market reacts to lurches in demand that may or may not be sustained or sustainable.
It does suggest also, though, that the Australian economy might be able to snap back as we all hope when the time comes.
