MEDIA RELEASE
4 September, 2012	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	135/2012

Some 2.5 million Australians ceased a job during the year ending February 2012 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Around 1 in 6 of these lost their last job because they were retrenched, made redundant or their employer went out of business. In 2010, around 1 in 5 people reported that they lost their last job for these reasons (compared with 1 in 10 in 2008).

The most common main reasons for ceasing a last job during the year ending February 2012 were:

• 20% left their last job voluntarily to obtain better job or conditions;
• 17% said that their last job was temporary or seasonal; and
• 14% left their job due unsatisfactory work conditions.

Other findings from the survey were:

Of the 12.7 million Australians who worked at some time during the previous 12 months, around 90% or 11.4 million people were employed at February 2012. Of these:

• one in five (2.3 million) had worked with their current employer/business for less than 12 months of whom almost half (1.2 million) had changed their employer/business in the last 12 months; and
• males aged 35–44 years (65%) and 45–54 (64%) most commonly changed employer/business compared to females for whom the age groups most likely to change employer/business were 25–34 and 55–59 (both 58%).

Around 7.3 million employees working at February 2012 had been with their current employer for one year or more. Of these:

• 1.9 million employees (26%), experienced some change in work; and
• around half (49%) of those who had experienced a change in work, had changed the number of hours usually worked, 46% had been promoted and 10% changed occupation (people may have reported more than one change in work).

Further details can be found in Labour Mobility, Australia, February 2012 (cat. no. 6209.0), available for free download from www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes:

• In this context, employees exclude owner managers of incorporated enterprises.
• When reporting on these statistics, attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) as the source.