Not switching jobs. Not starting businesses. Not moving states.
People are less mobile, less dynamic and more risk-averse than they used to be, a series of economic indicators shows.
In 1989, almost one in five people in the workforce changed jobs in a single year.
By 2005, the job mobility rate had fallen to 11 per cent, essentially one in 10 people.
The most recent data, for the year to February 2025, shows just over 1.1 million people changed jobs, meaning job-switching fell to just 7.7 per cent, or one in 13 people.
dj-house_money on
Because you are required to have five years experience, masters degree etc if you want to switch jobs, completely ridiculous
Ash-2449 on
All you have to do is go to ausjobs to see how screwed the market is, no matter how much certain data tries to gaslight people that everything is fine because the rich are getting richer.
geostation on
This is what happens when aspirations, productivity and ambition are punished.
Toxic mix of Labor policy, Liberal incompetence, crazy migration beyond what infrastructure in the country can cope.
supersonicdropbear on
I wonder if also stagnating salaries/wages are contributing to this. No point moving jobs/employers when new roles pay the same or often now less than current role.
Own_Emergency53 on
As if Australia wasn’t boring enough.
HowtoCrackanegg on
Well it really helps when every job advert isn’t casual or contract…
Polymath6301 on
And because there are qualifications for everything, you can’t get the new job without the qualification, but worse, pay scales are linked to those qualifications, and what you might actually do has little impact. Merit based increases can’t be justified, unless you have that new qualification.
It sounds good, until you realise that in the past experience was valued, and most of these (often dubious) qualifications didn’t exist, yet people did things, built things, developed vast skills and experience.
Specific-Athlete22 on
Lets say your renting a house. It may not be ideal but its stability. Then you look at finding another rental. Prices are insane, competition is high, quality is low & real estates are psychotic requiring applications with every little but of information about your life short of sexual fetishes.
Moving states to take up a new opportunity feels highly risky so they say maybe next year. Then the job application itself requires 6 interviews, indepth reference checks, dodgy HR who lead ppl on than ghost them.
Its a sick sad world and perfect for a grunge revival.
Maleficent-Radio-462 on
If you own your own place, there are high costs for moving. Stamp duty, real estate agent fees. A typical house could see tens of thousands of dollars – easily $40k or more for typical houses.
That’s a huge disincentive to move location unless the new job opportunity can pay a lot more than the current jobs someone can find in their own area.
The barriers for renters are lower, but there are still substantial moving costs.
The economy is not offering the kinds of opportunities and salaries to incentivise much moving these days.
fued on
companies literally just dont give payrises anymore. I have been a few places that say “wages are only reviewed every 3 years”
Fit-Abroad-8796 on
Except in the public service – people are moving around like crazy at the moment
Neo-T94 on
Everywhere is expensive with more or less the same problems. There’s very little to gain by relocating between the handful of cities we have. Then there’s the countless towns that are nothing but expensive insular miserable retirement villages. Australia genuinely needs new cities with incentives to help younger people escape the capitals.
13 Comments
Not switching jobs. Not starting businesses. Not moving states.
People are less mobile, less dynamic and more risk-averse than they used to be, a series of economic indicators shows.
In 1989, almost one in five people in the workforce changed jobs in a single year.
By 2005, the job mobility rate had fallen to 11 per cent, essentially one in 10 people.
The most recent data, for the year to February 2025, shows just over 1.1 million people changed jobs, meaning job-switching fell to just 7.7 per cent, or one in 13 people.
Because you are required to have five years experience, masters degree etc if you want to switch jobs, completely ridiculous
All you have to do is go to ausjobs to see how screwed the market is, no matter how much certain data tries to gaslight people that everything is fine because the rich are getting richer.
This is what happens when aspirations, productivity and ambition are punished.
Toxic mix of Labor policy, Liberal incompetence, crazy migration beyond what infrastructure in the country can cope.
I wonder if also stagnating salaries/wages are contributing to this. No point moving jobs/employers when new roles pay the same or often now less than current role.
As if Australia wasn’t boring enough.
Well it really helps when every job advert isn’t casual or contract…
And because there are qualifications for everything, you can’t get the new job without the qualification, but worse, pay scales are linked to those qualifications, and what you might actually do has little impact. Merit based increases can’t be justified, unless you have that new qualification.
It sounds good, until you realise that in the past experience was valued, and most of these (often dubious) qualifications didn’t exist, yet people did things, built things, developed vast skills and experience.
Lets say your renting a house. It may not be ideal but its stability. Then you look at finding another rental. Prices are insane, competition is high, quality is low & real estates are psychotic requiring applications with every little but of information about your life short of sexual fetishes.
Moving states to take up a new opportunity feels highly risky so they say maybe next year. Then the job application itself requires 6 interviews, indepth reference checks, dodgy HR who lead ppl on than ghost them.
Its a sick sad world and perfect for a grunge revival.
If you own your own place, there are high costs for moving. Stamp duty, real estate agent fees. A typical house could see tens of thousands of dollars – easily $40k or more for typical houses.
That’s a huge disincentive to move location unless the new job opportunity can pay a lot more than the current jobs someone can find in their own area.
The barriers for renters are lower, but there are still substantial moving costs.
The economy is not offering the kinds of opportunities and salaries to incentivise much moving these days.
companies literally just dont give payrises anymore. I have been a few places that say “wages are only reviewed every 3 years”
Except in the public service – people are moving around like crazy at the moment
Everywhere is expensive with more or less the same problems. There’s very little to gain by relocating between the handful of cities we have. Then there’s the countless towns that are nothing but expensive insular miserable retirement villages. Australia genuinely needs new cities with incentives to help younger people escape the capitals.