The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported a decline in job mobility for the first time in three years, with more people finding it difficult to secure employment in 2024 compared to previous years.

The ABS data highlights a decrease in job mobility, increased difficulty in finding employment, and persistent underemployment issues.

Reduced Job Movement

In the 12 months leading up to February 2024, 8% of employed individuals, or 1.1 million people, changed their employer or business, down from 9.5% the previous year. This represents the lowest job mobility rate since before the pandemic, with a slight increase among women (8.2%) compared to men (7.9%).

Sales workers had the highest mobility rate at 9.7%, followed by community and personal service workers at 9.6%. However, declines were noted across various sectors, particularly in arts and recreation services, which saw a 5.4% drop.

Anglicare deputy director Maiy Azize noted that rising living costs and increasing interest rates have deterred people from changing jobs. The current official cash rate is 4.35%, with expectations of a rise to 4.6% at the next Reserve Bank of Australia board meeting in August.

“Younger workers, especially those aged 15 to 24, showed higher job mobility at 12.6%, while only 5.3% of workers aged 45 to 64 years and 1.7% of those aged 65 and over changed jobs,” according to the ABS. Despite this, youth job mobility was 15.9% lower than in 2022 and significantly below the over 20% rates observed two decades ago.

Australians Working Multiple Jobs

The ABS also found that more Australians are working multiple jobs due to flexible work arrangements and the rising cost of living. This reflects a flexible job market but also indicates that people are struggling to make ends meet.

The number of unemployed Australians who struggled to find work increased, with 1.9 million people seeking employment in 2024, up from 1.8 million last year. The primary reasons cited were an oversaturation of job applicants, insufficient work experience, and ill health or disability.

Anglicare Australia has called for the creation of more entry-level jobs to address employment challenges. “Entry-level jobs now represent only one in 10 vacancies, compared to one in four 15 years ago,” Azize told the ABC.

Underemployment remains a persistent issue, with nearly half of part-time workers preferring full-time hours. In 2024, 1.7 million employed people were underemployed, with 889,800 part-time workers seeking more hours.