Latest research from Indeed reveals the varied experiences of Australian workers so far during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published during World Mental Health Month, the survey demonstrates that age, proximity to job loss, tenure, and whether individuals have continued working outside the home or not, all play a significant role in determining how well people feel they’ve coped.
Younger workers are feeling more pressure
The survey indicates 50-65-year-old workers feel least affected by the pandemic, with 72% stating they don’t feel their motivation levels have changed and only 26% concerned they might lose their job.
Meanwhile, younger workers are feeling the most pressure, with almost 4 in 10 (37%) respondents aged 18-29 years saying they feel less motivated to complete work tasks compared to pre-COVID-19. And nearly half (47%) of under 40s are concerned they will lose their job in the future.
64% of the 18-29-year-old group reported personally knowing someone who has lost their job – a significantly higher percentage than the 43% of the 50-65 age cohort who knew someone.
The impact of knowing someone who has lost their job is significant
Knowing someone who has lost their job is shown to have a marked impact on a person’s psyche. Those who personally know someone who has lost their job are considerably more likely to feel increased stress/anxiety levels (60%), to feel more isolated working from home (67%), and to be more concerned about job security (51%).
Nearly half (49%) of those in close proximity to job loss simultaneously feel they need to over-deliver in order to stay employed, and 45% also cite finding it harder to concentrate.
Length of tenure has a positive impact on how employees feel
The survey found that the longer people have been employed in their job, the less likely they were to feel negatively impacted by the pandemic. Close to three quarters (71%) of those who have been in their job for more than five years reported that their ability to deliver work has not changed. Only a third (33%) of the 5+ year tenure group said they are concerned about losing their job looking forward.
In contrast, two thirds (67%) of those who had been in their job for less than 5 years were concerned about future job loss.
People who have continued to work from have been less negatively impacted
Individuals who have continued working full time in an office or other out-of-home work environment (e.g. store, restaurant, etc.) overwhelmingly said their confidence in their ability to deliver work has not changed (71%), nor had their ability to concentrate on work tasks (59%). In contrast, for people working full time from home, only 53% said their ability to deliver work hadn’t changed and 39% said their ability to concentrate hadn’t changed.
Looking forward, only a third (36%) of Australians who have continued to work full time out of the home are concerned about losing their job, compared to nearly half (49%) of people working from home.
There are many unseen effects from changes to employment
Of employees who had their hours reduced, 62% said they were more stressed now compared to before COVID-19, and 50% reported finding it more difficult to concentrate on tasks.
Similarly, 50% of people working in environments where staff had been laid off said they found it more difficult to concentrate on work tasks. And over a third (35%) of those exposed to staff cutbacks around them said they felt less confident in their ability to deliver work.
Australian employers have largely ‘got it right’ when it comes to navigating workplace pressures
In positive news for businesses, 70% of workers overall said they felt their employer had taken every step possible to avoid layoffs. More than 6 in 10 (65%) of workers said they felt that their employer took the emotional wellbeing of staff seriously, and 59% thought they had made every effort to support their emotional wellbeing.
This was more positive among those working in large organisations (72% and 65% for taking the emotional wellbeing of staff seriously and making every effort to support that emotional wellbeing, respectively), compared to small to medium organisations (61% and 55%).
While COVID-19 has undoubtedly had a significant impact on Australians’ mental health at large, there has often been an assumption that those employed are less adversely affected than those who are out of work.
However, our research has shown that employed Australians are also feeling the toll of the pandemic when it comes to their relationship with work.
This group’s experience has been a varied one, with some very interesting influences at play. Age, tenure and work environment have played a role in determining their experience, with proximity to job loss also emerging as a very important determinant of one’s mindset in the workplace.
Australian employers have cause to be proud about their navigation of COVID-19. It was really encouraging to see that the majority of Australian workers feel their employer has done everything they could to avoid layoffs and has taken their emotional wellbeing seriously. The fact that employees are confident their employers have acted ethically and in staff’s best interests will put businesses in good stead to rebuild and recover.
With more than 15 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Jay Munro has worked in a variety of roles in agencies and job boards, from consulting and recruiting, through to leading the product development of new sourcing technologies. As an Employer Insights Strategist with the Indeed Employer Insights Team, Jay pairs platform data with industry trend analysis to share Indeed’s story and bring the value of the company’s programs and solutions to life.