Secure jobs

Metrics

Proportion of employed people who expect to not remain in the same job in 12 months’ time due to involuntary reasons
Proportion of employees who had irregular working arrangements
Proportion of employees who do not have paid leave entitlements

Why this matters

Job security is a broad and multi-faceted concept. Elements of a job that contribute to job security include, but are not limited to, the likelihood of a worker keeping their job, access to paid leave entitlements, and regularity of hours or a minimum number of hours.

Progress

Expectations about remaining in the same job

In May 2024, 1.3% of employed people reported they did not expect to remain in their current job in 12 months' time due to involuntary reasons. The proportion has remained relatively stable over the 20-year period to May 2024, ranging between 1.1% and 2.0%.

Proportion of employed people who do not expect to remain in their current job in 12 months’ time for involuntary reasons (a)
	Males (%)	Females (%)	Persons (%)
May-04	1.5	1.6	1.5
May-05	1.3	1.5	1.4
May-06	1.2	1.3	1.2
May-07	1.0	1.3	1.1
May-08	1.1	1.3	1.2
May-09	1.7	1.6	1.7
May-10	1.4	1.3	1.4
May-11	1.3	1.3	1.3
May-12	1.7	1.5	1.6
May-13	1.6	1.4	1.5
May-14	2.0	2.0	2.0
May-15	2.1	1.9	2.0
May-16	1.8	1.8	1.8
May-17	1.6	1.7	1.7
May-18	1.6	1.7	1.7
May-19	1.5	1.7	1.6
May-20	1.8	2.0	1.9
May-21	1.6	1.7	1.6
May-22	1.3	1.6	1.5
May-23	1.3	1.4	1.4
May-24	1.0	1.5	1.3

Proportion of employed people who do not expect to remain in their current job in 12 months’ time for involuntary reasons (a)

["","Males","Females","Persons"]

[["May-04","May-05","May-06","May-07","May-08","May-09","May-10","May-11","May-12","May-13","May-14","May-15","May-16","May-17","May-18","May-19","May-20","May-21","May-22","May-23","May-24"],[[1.465907901],[1.3036130560000001],[1.1779968139999999],[1.033496298],[1.056191892],[1.7095149160000001],[1.3870596319999999],[1.2873271070000001],[1.656507781],[1.559443132],[2.0144225339999999],[2.1062612000000001],[1.7766353349999999],[1.6113876460000001],[1.566585119],[1.5100759960000001],[1.816702966],[1.556325916],[1.317385435],[1.3253334640000001],[1.026559998]],[[1.645935272],[1.4666559349999999],[1.3272082039999999],[1.264294727],[1.325110019],[1.632542116],[1.3334901859999999],[1.290751955],[1.4704144299999999],[1.3883070120000001],[2.0266787279999998],[1.8536280970000001],[1.8362031910000001],[1.7246546380000001],[1.7454343329999999],[1.6733643],[1.962739765],[1.745390346],[1.6490220760000001],[1.39425526],[1.519102089]],[[1.5461714820000001],[1.3768824],[1.2455317159999999],[1.1375276320000001],[1.177907628],[1.674270516],[1.3627119219999999],[1.288885659],[1.5713581210000001],[1.4810874060000001],[2.0200666460000001],[1.9896494419999999],[1.804330266],[1.664362551],[1.6506756810000001],[1.5867087849999999],[1.885202416],[1.6464889549999999],[1.4756634829999999],[1.3583315119999999],[1.2621574579999999]]]

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a. Involuntary reasons include: employer or own business closing down or downsizing; or expects seasonal work, temporary job, fixed-term contract, or casual work to end.

Data Source

ABS Labour Force, Detailed, Australia - Table 17

Irregular working arrangements

The proportion of employees that had irregular working arrangements has been stable from 2014 to 2022, at around 27% to 28%.

Proportion of employees who had irregular working arrangements
	Persons (%)
2014	27.1
2016	27.4
2018	27.6
2020	28.4
2022	28.2

Proportion of employees who had irregular working arrangements

["","Persons"]

[["2014","2016","2018","2020","2022"],[[27.100000000000001],[27.399999999999999],[27.600000000000001],[28.399999999999999],[28.199999999999999]]]

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Data Source

ABS Characteristics of Employment, unpublished data

Paid leave entitlements

In May 2024, 22.5% of employees did not have paid leave entitlements, similar to May 2023 (22.3%).

The proportion of employees without paid leave entitlements has been gradually decreasing since May 2015 (25.2%).

Proportion of employees who did not have access to paid leave entitlements
	Males (%)	Females (%)	Persons (%)
May-2015	23.0	27.5	25.2
May-2016	23.4	27.6	25.5
May-2017	22.8	27.1	24.9
May-2018	23.1	27.0	25.1
May-2019	23.1	26.8	24.9
May-2020	19.6	21.7	20.6
May-2021	21.5	25.9	23.7
May-2022	21.2	25.3	23.2
May-2023	20.9	23.7	22.3
May-2024	21.0	24.0	22.5

Proportion of employees who did not have access to paid leave entitlements

["","Males","Females","Persons"]

[["May-2015","May-2016","May-2017","May-2018","May-2019","May-2020","May-2021","May-2022","May-2023","May-2024"],[[22.997066069999999],[23.43476136],[22.776656110000001],[23.13570245],[23.061715469999999],[19.552309659999999],[21.475367859999999],[21.165165949999999],[20.877803629999999],[20.9907194]],[[27.546998540000001],[27.641315110000001],[27.085978130000001],[27.00555988],[26.838454349999999],[21.74715179],[25.8766347],[25.276039820000001],[23.659996970000002],[24.028505020000001]],[[25.210018730000002],[25.49344382],[24.896184770000001],[25.05302125],[24.925319519999999],[20.633015360000002],[23.67310865],[23.221277910000001],[22.271144970000002],[22.513413459999999]]]

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Data Source

ABS Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Table EQ04

Differences across groups

In May 2024, the proportion of employed people who did not expect to remain in their current job in 12 months’ time for involuntary reasons was higher for females (1.5%) than males (1.0%).

In 2022, the proportion of employees that had irregular working arrangements was slightly higher for males (29.1%) than for females (27.2%).

In May 2024, 24.0% of male employees did not have access to paid leave entitlements compared to 21.0% of female employees.