Face of Nation : If you’re feeling a bit stuck in a rut at work, you’re not alone.
More than 10 million Australians have been in the same job for more than a year – about 80 per cent of the workforce.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Monday also showed that in the year to February 2019, more than 10 million Australians were underemployed and wanted more hours at work.
Head of Labour Statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the data equated to eight out of every 10 workers having been in a job for 12 months or more.
“The last decade has seen fewer people leaving or losing their jobs.” Mr Jarvis said on Monday.
“This has been especially true for women, with 15 per cent of all women who worked in the year leaving or losing a job, down from 19 per cent in 2008.
“This compared to 14 per cent for men in 2019, down from 17 per cent in 2008.”
While people are staying in their jobs for longer, the number who wanted to work more hours also increased over the past decade.
“More than one million Australians were underemployed in 2019. This was 8.2 per cent of the total labour force, up from 7.6 per cent in 2009,” Mr Jarvis said.
Almost half of underemployed workers in 2019 reported that they had been wanting more hours for more than year.
The report found Australia has 11.3 million people who are over the age of 15 and not working full-time.
Of those, almost two million wanted to work but couldn’t find the job. A further 2.62 million people were retired.
