Over 20% of the Labour Force Seeking Greener Pastures in March

Unemployment may be at near-record lows of 5.2%, but the equivalent of more than 20% of the labour work force* or 2,086,562 unique browsers visited www.seek.com.au in March, according to the latest Nielsen NetRatings.**

Such high traffic numbers suggest that most of the people browsing for jobs are already employed, so SEEK conducted an online survey to investigate their motivations.

46% of survey respondents said they were ìunhappy in my current roleî, followed by 27% who are ìjust browsing for new opportunitiesî and 14% who are looking ìto find a job closer to homeî. Just 8% of respondents said they were seeking ìa more senior positionî.

Joint CEO Andrew Bassat said the results were surprising, even for SEEK.

ìWe have never had 2 million unique visitors to SEEK in a single month before and intuitively this doesnít make much sense since unemployment is at a 30 year low. Whatís obvious is that most Australian job seekers already have a job, however theyíd rather be on their way somewhere else this morning.

ìOur survey suggests that the priority for most Australian workers is not to climb the corporate ladder, but a job that makes them happy and isnít too far from home.

ìTraffic congestion and public transport are obviously taking their toll. 16% of people said the primary reason they are looking for a new job is because they want one closer to home. This is likely to be linked to the desire among many Australians to achieve a work life balance.

ìWhen you look only at the people who visited SEEK last month, a frightening 47% of them are unhappy in their current role. We are talking about 1 million unhappy workers here. We canít confidently extrapolate this to the entire Australian workforce, but it does suggest that employers have a job ahead of them this year to retain their talent.

ìIn a strong employment market the power balance shifts to employees. The one job for life era has been long gone, but now it looks like even two to five years is too long to stay in a job for many people.

ìTodayís workforce is very mobile and the Internet and job sites in particular, have mobilized information so that pretty much anyone can go searching for a new job. People are more likely to move if they are sick of their job or if a better offer comes along, and they are constantly monitoring their employment options,î said Mr Bassat.

* Based on February 2006 ABS data which numbered employed persons as 10,041 200.

** Nielson NetRatings Market Intelligence 2006