Fears workers are squandering job boom

Australians are holding back from finding a better job despite record-low unemployment and a tight jobs market that has employers bending over backwards to get people in the door.

Despite the perception that many people are changing jobs, 65 per cent of Australians have no plans to switch roles in the next 12 months, according to data from SEEK.

The lack of drive to find a better position comes down to one thing according to SEEK career coach Leah Lambart: lack of confidence.

“There‘s definitely a plethora of opportunity but for some reason, candidates are not feeling as confident as they have been in the past,” she said.

The number of job ads on SEEK’s website have increased 15.5 per cent in the past year, while the unemployment rate remains at a low of 3.5 per cent according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

According to SEEK’s survey of over 2000 Australians, one in three believe there is too much competition from other candidates and 45 per cent believe that their resume won’t stack up compared to others.

The fear of not having enough experience was something felt by marketing executive Georgie Hall, who recently changed into a role at an international advertising agency from a small business.

“When I was looking to change jobs I thought, ‘I’ve only got 2-3 years of experience in marketing, I don’t have enough,’ and assumed that people wouldn’t want to hire me,” Ms Hall said.

“It seems like there are a lot of roles out there, and a lot at my level.

“It felt like I was quite in demand and I was surprised.”

Many job seekers are misguided in underselling themselves, Ms Lambart said, with employers now offering greater flexibility with who they‘ll hire for a role.

“People think that their resumes don‘t stack up if they don’t meet every criteria, but that might not be absolutely necessary,” she said.

“In some industries, I‘ve seen employers more likely to train people on the job, because the job market is so tight.”

University of Melbourne Professor Mark Wooden says the drive for workers to get into a new role is even lower than what SEEK‘s data shows.

According to the ABS, there were only 1.22 million Australians who don‘t believe they will stay with their employer for the next 12 months, from a workforce of 13.59 million.

“You would‘ve thought that now was the time to change and get higher pay, but people get comfortable in their jobs unless their employer is giving them hell, which they aren’t,” he said.

Mr Wooden agreed that now was the time to switch if people were considering leaving their current jobs.

“The labour market has never been like this, it‘s phenomenal, I would have never predicted it during the dark days of the pandemic,” he said.

“Pretty much anyone with a brain can get a job, the question is how picky people are.”

Certain in-demand industries are even offering sign-on bonuses and other benefits to try and entice staff through the door.

“Industries that are paying a premium include hospitality, healthcare, retail, and construction … basically where they‘re finding it hard to find workers,” Ms Lambert said.

“Also in industries where we have historically brought people in from overseas like IT, finance and engineers because we haven‘t been able to find people in Australia.”

That’s reflected in SEEK’s data, which lists job ads for trades, healthcare, and hospitality as the highest by volume.

However, the job boom isn‘t expected to last forever, and with warnings from Treasurer Jim Chalmers that Australia may be in for an economic downturn in 2023 that could impact the job market.

“Next year the big issue is whether we‘re going to have a big downturn in economic growth, [Treasurer] Chalmers is all doom and gloom about the prospects for the economy and he’s talking about a global recession,” Mr Wooden said.

“That‘ll take the wind out of the sails of the labour market, it’ll no longer be tight.”

That‘s something that Ms Lambart agrees with.

“All we know is that the job market is quite buoyant right now,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we don‘t have a crystal ball, but if you’re someone who is ready to make a move, there’s no harm in putting yourself out there and looking for opportunities.”