Recruitment firms are moving back to the capital cities - an indicator that employment for white-collar jobs is on the ascendancy.
The rise in office-space leasing comes as new job data reveals newspaper ads increased in the past month, despite the January holidays.
Chief economist at CommSec, Craig James, said internet and newspaper job advertisements, as tracked by ANZ, rose by 3 per cent in February after an upwardly revised 0.6 per cent increase in January (previously a 0.9 per cent fall). Job ads are down 16.5 per cent on a year ago, to 140,733 - the highest level in four months.
Newspaper job ads fell by 2.9 per cent in February, while the far larger component of internet job ads rose by 3.3 per cent.
''ANZ provides data on newspaper job ads by state, but given their minor importance in relation to internet ads and poor record in tracking total advertisements, the data is not useful for analytical purposes,'' Mr James said.
''If businesses are again advertising for staff, it is likely that they are also stepping up hiring through other mechanisms such as social media, placement agencies and labour hire businesses.
''Clearly, 2013 has started with some encouraging signs.''
Office leasing director at Ray White Commercial, John Skufris, said since the start of calendar 2013, he had worked on a number of deals with recruitment firms that all had immediate starting dates.
Executive and advisory board search firm Hattonneale was one firm that decided to relocate to the CBD from Mosman on Sydney's lower north shore, Mr Skufris said.
He said the firm had secured a 115.2-square-metre office on level 26 of 25 Bligh Street, in a three-year lease at an initial gross annual rental of $800 a square metre.
Kingsmede, a private property group, owned the 25 Bligh Street site, Mr James said. ''It's located in the city's core financial precinct,'' he said. ''The building offers quality office suites with on-site facilities including a gymnasium, squash court and storage space.''
In another CBD leasing deal, information technology and telecommunications recruitment firm Orbital Group had relocated to level nine of 5 Hunter Street, also known as Leda House, Mr Skufris said.
''Orbital Group has signed a two-year lease at an initial gross rental of $650 per square metre per annum,'' he said. ''The office at 5 Hunter Street offered a genuine 'plug-and-play' [offices with existing fitouts] opportunity conveniently located close to Wynyard station.''
Jeremy Piggin, also a director at Ray White Commercial, recently signed a lease with West Recruitment for space at 115 Pitt Street, which he said would put the group near the ''corporate'' core of the city. ''These businesses are gaining traction and are very interested in offices that are established with desks and other hardware so they can simply move in,'' Mr Piggin said. ''Some of the recent leasing transactions have seen tenants previously using short-term serviced offices now wanting something more permanent with a longer-term commitment.''
Director of office leasing at Colliers International, Jock Gilchrist, who worked on a lease for Succession Planning with Ray White Commercial, said the demand for space from recruiters was increasing in Sydney and Melbourne.
These included consultancy firm Michael Page, which is looking for office space between 1200 square metres and 2000 square metres in Sydney. Mr Gilchrist said in the past few months, 16 recruitment groups had made inquiries for potential space in Sydney. He said the combined interest covered about 8000 square metres.
Mr Gilchrist said three of those inquiries were for space in North Sydney and the rest for the CBD.
The average space being sought was between 370 square metres and 480 square metres, with some larger companies seeking up to 2000 square metres, he said.
In Melbourne, there had been six inquiries since the fourth quarter of 2012, amounting to more than 1500 square metres, Mr Gilchrist said. ''This is a very active sector and we expect the momentum to continue,'' he said.
National director of office leasing in the Sydney CBD for Colliers International, Cameron Williams, said the Sydney CBD office market accounted for 31 per cent of all CBD office transactions across Australia.
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