Job mobility ‘highest in a decade’ as data sheds light on why so many Aussies are changing employers

New figures have revealed why so many Aussies are changing jobs, with the numbers now at their highest point in a decade.

New figures have revealed why Australians are still happy to change employers, with job mobility rates still at their highest record in a decade.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Friday released their Participation, Job Search and Mobility report, covering the 12 months to February.

The mobility rate remains at 9.5 per cent for the second year in a row — its highest level since 2012.

The latest ABS report shows job mobility – workers changing employers or businesses – remains at a decade-high for the second year in a row. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tertius Pickard

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis says 1.3m employed people changed their employer or business in the report period.

“This was the same as the year ending February 2022, meaning job mobility remained at its highest rate in a decade,” he said.

“Job mobility in Australia has generally been trending down for decades and reached a record low of 7.5 per cent during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ABS data showing the job mobility rate broken down by gender.

“While the 2023 figure might be higher, and is in fact the highest it’s been since the early 2010s, it’s still relatively low compared to earlier decades.”

Mobility also remained high for both men and women — 9.7 per cent of men changing jobs, compared to 9.4 per cent of women.

14.9 per cent of workers aged 15 to 24 swapped jobs, showing younger workers were more likely to make a change compared to 5.9 per cent of 45 to 64-year-olds.

This graph shows younger workers are more likely to change jobs compared to their older colleagues.

Job mobility across all eight occupation groups remained high, with labourers leading the charge with a 1.6 percentage point increase.

“Over the year, 37 per cent of people changed to a job with the same usual hours, while 33 per cent changed to a job with more hours, and only 30 per cent changed to a job with fewer hours,” Mr Jarvis said.

In February there were 1.8m people who were not working but wanted to work.

Of the 510,000 people who were unemployed in February 2023, 82 per cent reported having difficulty finding work — down from 84 per cent in February 2022.

The main difficulties reported by those unemployed were their own health or disability.

Originally published as Job mobility ‘highest in a decade’ as data sheds light on why so many Aussies are changing employers