Work/life balance trumps money - jobseekers

Work life balance trumps money to top the priority list for Australian jobseekers in the food and hospitality industry reveals new research by jobs site OneShift.

The survey of over 1,500 jobseekers questioned workers across a wide range of industries including retail, cleaning and administration and secretarial.

45 percent of Australian jobseekers in the hospitality and food industry ranked work life balance as the most important factor when seeking a new job. Following factors were money at 26 percent and career development at 20 percent, in contrast with the overall majority of respondents who prioritised career development (26 percent) before money (20 percent).

In line with the average across industries, over 70 percent (71 percent) of food and hospitality workers also said they would trade the security of full time employment for flexible working conditions. 

Genevieve George, Managing Director at OneShift, believes greater demands for work life balance will force employers to offer greater flexibility to attract the best employees.

“Employees are telling us the 9-5 work day is becoming redundant. Australian employers need to rethink their recruitment methods if they are going to attract the best talent,” she says.

“There’s a spectrum of options that can work to save businesses money and give employees the flexibility they are calling for. OneShift was born because of the trend towards flexible work conditions including shift work, job share, contract and part time work.”

Interestingly, more than 45 percent of those surveyed are eager to work more than 30 hours a week indicating a desire for flexible options outside of traditional working hours or place of work.

To register or find out more about OneShift please visit www.oneshift.com.au.

Survey highlights across all industries include:

• In the happiness stakes, of the 76 percent of Australians happy at work, 74 percent are looking for a job elsewhere
• Men tend to be happier than women at work with 82 percent claiming to be happy in the office compared to 74 percent of women
• 70 percent of jobseekers would prefer to apply for employment directly through an online job posting by the employer rather than through a recruitment agent, meaning traditional recruitment methods may be turning away the best talent
• Eight percent left their last job because of a horrible boss, and seven percent left because of poor work life balance
• 28 percent have had six or more jobs in their working career to date