Employer Change Survey

September 11 2010 - Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that about one in six workers started work with a new employer/business in the year to February 2010.

10.9 million people were at work in February 2010. Of these, 2 million (18 per cent) had been at their (then) current employer/business for less than a year and 963,000 (about a half) had changed employer/business during that period. People aged 25-34 years and 35-44 years were most likely to have changed their employer/business.

Around 7.1 million employees at work in February 2010 had been with current employers for a year or more. 25 per cent of these (1.8 million employees) had experienced some change in work. Of the 1.8 million:

• 51 per cent had changed the number of hours they usually worked
• 43 per cent had been promoted, and
• 10 per cent changed occupation

(Note that people in the survey could report more than one change in work).

2.2 million employees ceased ceased a job during year ending February 2010 of whom, 58 per cent had voluntarily left their jobs - compared to 70 per cent in the 2008 survey. 917,300 people lost their jobs involuntarily. Of these 47 per cent had been with their employer/business for less than 12 months. 'Retrenched by their employer or went out of business' was the most common reason given, accounting for 50 per cent of responses.

Further details available in Labour Mobility, Australia, February 2010 (cat. no. 6209.0).

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