Worker optimism on its way up

By Grace Ormsby

May 22 2020
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There has been a recent upswing in the optimism of the Australian workforce despite Treasury’s concession that the real national unemployment rate is pushing 9.6 per cent.

The latest data from LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index has revealed an uptick in overall confidence to the beginning of May that was driven by enhanced optimism around jobs and the general financial outlook of Australia.

The analysis comes alongside Treasury’s revelation to the Senate committee on COVID-19 that April’s unemployment figures were much higher than ABS statistics actually showed.

Country manager for LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand Matt Tindale said that with many Australians undergoing job loss, “it’s promising to see that confidence levels have started to trend upward in line with the government’s cautious exit from lockdowns”.

According to LinkedIn, not only is the confidence of Australian professionals improving, but employees think working from home is a “viable” option, with 65 per cent of workers considering they can be effective when remote working.

Weighing in on the finding, Mr Tindale said that such a quick shift and increase in online working “may have long-term impacts on the way Australians structure their work and home lives, as many may now be looking to continue with the added flexibility and look for alternative options to their traditional office employment”.

The effectiveness of online remote-style work isn’t just limited to the individual, with 58 per cent of respondents also expressing the belief that their industry as a whole is effective when working from home.

Perhaps surprisingly, finance professionals, regardless of specific industry, are currently signifying the most confidence across all job types surveyed in Australia, making them the most optimistic industry in the market – at a confidence level of +38 on a scale from -100 to +100.

This is followed by professionals in the engineering (+24) and IT (+23) sectors.

At a seniority level, LinkedIn also revealed that those with more senior titles are feeling more confident about their careers, especially those with director-level titles and above. Despite this, 65 per cent of director-level employees or above think they will have less job opportunities available to them in the future.

Sector-wise, small businesses have displayed the greatest increase in confidence – not only has workplace confidence at a business level increased the most when compared to mid-market and enterprise, but small businesses are also displaying the most optimism about the next six months in business.

About the author

Grace Ormsby

Grace is a journalist on Momentum Media's nestegg. She enjoys being able to provide easy to digest information and practical tips for Australians with regard to their wealth, as well as having a platform on which to engage leading experts and commentators and leverage their insight.

About the author

Grace Ormsby

Grace is a journalist on Momentum Media's nestegg. She enjoys being able to provide easy to digest information and practical tips for Australians with regard to their wealth, as well as having a platform on which to engage leading experts and commentators and leverage their insight.

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