Australian workers would trade pay for purpose, ServiceNow reveals

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Half of Australians would give up a pay rise for more meaningful work, with the average white collar worker spending 61 hours a month – or about 15 hours a week – on mundane tasks.

New research from software company ServiceNow revealed South Australians wasted the most work time (73 hours a month) on menial tasks, such as dealing with IT, making expense claims or trying to find HR information.

Victorians spent the least time on this (59 hours a month) but were also most likely to want to reduce it further, with 56 per cent willing to give up a pay rise for more meaningful work.

ServiceNow Australia and New Zealand vice president and managing director David Oakley said the data pointed to the importance of purpose.

“People want to be able to link the work they are doing to a greater purpose, whether impacting on a global scale or their local community,” he said.

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Would you turn down a pay rise for more purpose at work? Picture: iStock

The research found this was a trend among Millennials in particular, as two thirds wished for more meaningful work compared to 45 per cent of Baby Boomers.

“The generation is more educated and more socially aware in many ways,” Mr Oakley said.

“Millennials have more opportunity to go to university, do more travel, and are more in touch with social issues so want every aspect of their life to have purpose.”

Gartner human resources adviser Robin Boomer said there was a global trend of workers looking for more purpose and passion in their jobs, but Australia was among the countries leading the charge.

He said people’s needs were being met better in Australia than in some other countries so Australians could afford to think about more than making ends meet.

“For the most part, (Australians) are making a fair, or at least liveable, wage already,” he said.

“When we compare the primary drivers of attraction in other markets, we see in places like the US and China that the number one attracting factor is still compensation.”

Michael Reid is not surprised people value purpose over pay. Picture: Damian Shaw

DHL Express national account manager Michael Reid said a major appeal of his job was the meaningful work he contributed to.

“We work with a lot of small start ups and larger online retailers, working with them to help them grow internationally and grow their business,” he said.

“In some cases it has a huge impact on people’s lives. We have seen people go from heading in the wrong direction to being successful internationally.”

He was not surprised so many people valued purpose over pay.

“For six or seven years (earlier in my career) I went job to job looking for that meaningful feeling,” he said.

“(Purpose is) a big contributor for me.”

There is a global trend of valuing the opportunity for meaningful work. Picture: iStock

HOW THE STATES STACK UP

SOURCE: ServiceNow

Aussies wishing for more meaningful work

NSW 54%

Victoria 61%

Queensland 57%

South Australia 58%

Western Australia 58%

Tasmania, NT, ACT 66%

AVERAGE: 58%

Aussies willing to give up a pay rise for more meaningful work

NSW 53%

Victoria 56%

Queensland 47%

South Australia 58%

Western Australia 56%

Tasmania, NT, ACT 52%

AVERAGE: 53%

On average, the percentage of their day Aussies spend on menial tasks

NSW 40.73%

Victoria 44.07%

Queensland 44.07%

South Australia 41.75%

Western Australia 44.01%

Tasmania, NT, ACT 45.96%

AVERAGE: 42%

Estimate hours per month Aussies spend undertaking menial tasks

NSW 59.58

Victoria 58.91

Queensland 61.92

South Australia 73.42

Western Australia 60.53

Tasmania, NT, ACT 62.26

AVERAGE: 61

READ MORE EMPLOYMENT NEWS IN THE CAREERS SECTION OF SATURDAY’S THE COURIER-MAIL, THE ADVERTISER, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH AND THE HERALD SUN.

Originally published as Australian workers would trade pay for purpose, ServiceNow reveals