New data from NAB found that around one in five (19 per cent) people are looking to change jobs – a drop since the last quarter in which 22 per cent were looking at other employment opportunities – but is still concerning in the context of the tight job market.
A further two in five workers (43 per cent) are keeping up to date with new opportunities despite not currently considering leaving their current job.
And the research showed that it is predominantly younger workers (24 per cent) who are looking for other employment opportunities with this number stepping down progressively in each age group to just 8 per cent in the over-65 group (down from 13 per cent in Q1).
Intentions to leave job by industry were highest in the mining & agribusiness sectors at around 34 per cent.
By job type, digital and data workers were the most active, seeking to capitalise on the ever-growing demand for tech skills. Just over a quarter of workers in the digital area were looking to change jobs, while sales workers and labourers were similarly active.
The NAB Economics research – “The Changing Workforce” – also highlighted work-from-home activity and preferences, with Australians typically wanting to work half their time at home. However, for now, the average Australian works two-thirds of the time outside their home.
NAB executive for business metro, Michael Saadie, said the current decades-low rate of unemployment was great news and workers were aware of the opportunities it created.
“Australians were understandably wary to move jobs in the early days of the pandemic given the uncertain environment,” Mr Saadie said.
“However, the economy rebounded sharply last year and into 2022, creating a job hunter’s market with unemployment now around its lowest level in decades.
“As a result, it has given confidence to many Australians – particularly young Australians – to look at changing jobs and even careers over the past 12 months.
“While money is a factor, our research suggests it’s typically not the primary cause for leaving a job. The top two reasons for leaving are a lack of personal fulfilment and lack of career growth – but there are many who just feel like a fresh start.”
Mr Saadie said the pandemic had changed the labour market and employers now had to look at different ways to attract and retain talent; be that new types of leave, wellbeing initiatives or learning and development.
“We continue to hear from small and medium businesses about the difficulty in hiring the right talent to keep their business growing as quickly as they want,” Mr Saadie said.
“While the strength of the jobs market is great to see, it does create challenges with a broad labour shortage that is impacting most sectors of the economy.
“After decades of low employee turnover, we’re seeing businesses work harder than ever to retain and attract talent.”
