New research from Roy Morgan into the impact of COVID-19 on Australia’s employment market shows 70% of working Australians have now had ‘a change to their employment’ due to the pandemic.
Interviewing was conducted throughout September 2020 with a nationally representative cross-section of 4,059 working Australians using a combination of telephone and online interviews (multi-mode).
Working Australians were asked: “As a result of the Coronavirus Crisis, have you experienced any of the following employment changes.”
Some people reported several changes to their working conditions since the Coronavirus like being stood down, having reduced hours and working from home. This reflects the changing nature of the situation for companies and employees as they navigate the crisis.
For the 1.6 million (10%) who cite ‘some other change to their employment’ this includes being put on enforced leave, changes in work rostering, social distancing measures at work, split shifts, an increase in responsibility, a halt to business growth, precautions put in place at work, being in a vulnerable group for COVID-19 so not being able to take work and an inability to see clients face-to-face.
Biggest employment impact of COVID-19 is in Victoria after second lockdown
Looking at the impact of the Coronavirus on employment at a State-based level shows clearly the biggest impact is in Victoria which was in hard lockdown throughout September.
Nearly four-fifths of working Victorians (79%) have had a change to their employment due to the impact of the Coronavirus – a full 10% points ahead of any other State.
The two next most impacted States are New South Wales (69%) and Tasmania (68%). These States have endured the second biggest health problems due to the Coronavirus.
The three States to experience the least impact on employment have also dealt most effectively with COVID-19 on the health front. Under two-thirds of working people in Queensland (65%), Western Australia (63%) and only 58% in South Australia have had an impact on their employment due to the Coronavirus.
Industries most impacted are Recreation & Personal, Communication and Finance & Insurance
Some industries have experienced larger employment impacts than others and unsurprisingly Recreation & Personal is at the top with nearly nine-in-ten workers (89%) in this industry experiencing an employment change due to the Coronavirus.
Other industries to experience far greater employment impacts than the norm include Communication (83%), Finance & Insurance (79%), Wholesale (77%), Public Administration & Defence (77%) and Property & Business Services (75%).
For most of these industries the biggest employment impact from the Coronavirus is forcing employees to work from home. This includes 65% of people working in Finance & Insurance, 59% in Communication, 55% in Public Administration & Defence and 47% in Property & Business Services.
In contrast only 25% of people in the Recreation & Personal industry have been working from home and only 23% of people in the Wholesale industry.
The biggest employment impacts experienced by Recreation & Personal workers are having their business ‘slow or stop completely’ (40%) or having their ‘work hours reduced’ (38%). For workers in the Wholesale industry the biggest impact is felt by the 31% who have had their ‘work hours reduced’.
For mine the biggest surprise is that there were more people working from home in September (4.2 million) than there were in July (3.9 million) despite most states virtually eliminating COVID-19 community transmission.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
