Why are 44% of employees in Australia looking for new jobs in the second half of the year?

The year's second half expects 44% of employees across Australia to look for new jobs. According to the recent Robert Half report,  aside from the 44% of employees looking for a new role, another 31% said that despite not actively looking, they are open to a new job.

A startling statistic is that among the employees most likely to switch employers, HR professionals rank the highest, with 62% currently or intending to look for a new job. Tech professionals are next in line at 54%, followed by employees in business support at 39%, and finally, finance and accounting at 37%. Men (46%) are also more likely to find another employer later this year than women (41%). Moreover, 58% of those open to switching roles are between 18 to 24 years of age, while 50% are between 25 to 40 years.

Workers in New South Wales were also most likely to switch employers later this year (51%), followed by Western Australian workers (47%), Victorian workers (41%), and then Queensland workers (34%). 

Aside from the demographics of potential employee departures, the report also highlighted that the reasons for this departure include low salary (48%), lack of career progression opportunities (37%), unhappiness with job content (30%), lack of flexibility (25%), and high workload (23%). Additionally, the current labour market in the region continues to favour workers and offers various advantages and opportunities. 

Although low salary tops the list of reasons, Andrew Brushfield, Director at Robert Half, noted that it’s a “fragile” reason to take on a new role, especially for lateral roles. “Career progression can often accelerate remuneration faster than job-hopping between incremental offers, while the negative impact of poor work-life balance, toxic company culture, or repetitious workload will quickly outweigh the perks of a salary bump," he added. 

If enterprises want to put a stop to these turnover rates for their organisations, the report highlights that the employee wants that will become a critical differentiator include flexibility (53%), relationship with managers and co-workers (42%), competitive salary (37%), job content (35%) and company culture (35%)

"If you know why people stay with your organisation, you know what to emphasise when recruiting new talent," said Brushfield. "Likewise, why people leave is the fastest way to understand how to improve the employee value proposition in future. In this market, even passive job seekers are at flight risk, so it's crucial for companies to understand and address employees' priorities before they even contemplate a career move."