Why more workers are staying put, and how it impacts the workplace

Why more workers are staying put, and how it impacts the workplace

New data on job mobility suggests Australians are becoming less likely to move jobs, with the rate of workers changing employment falling to under eight per cent for the year to February 2025. An RMIT expert explains the external factors shaping this trend, and how it can impact workplace dynamics.

Andrew Dhaenens, Senior Lecturer, Management and Leadership: 

"There is a confluence of factors recreating this classic case of reluctant stayers.  

"The job market is threatened by layoffs and displacement from AI, while job searching has been strained with the flood of AI-fueled applications against a wall of ghost jobs, making for an uncomfortable time for everyone involved.   

"At the same time, cost-of-living pressures are making it harder for people to make lateral moves or change locations.   

"These external factors are not just limiting job mobility but changing how people think about their work.  

"A lot of anxiety is born from identity threats, where people feel uncertain about their role, value or future at work, and an overall lack of trust in leadership to look out for them.   

"People are likely to direct that anxiety toward conversations around AI, when in many cases the real issues are in leadership, communication, and day-to-day workplace relationships.  

"For organisations, this is the time to have honest conversations with their people on purpose, and trust. Rethinking the old principle, I am a firm believer that 80 per cent of the stress comes from 20 per cent of the job. Most of these discomforts are fixable, but only if we have the conversations at work."

Andrew Dhaenens is a Senior Lecturer in Management and Leadership at RMIT University. With a background in human resources, his research largely explores workplace relationships with projects around the future of work including organisational change, work arrangements, and employee turnover. 

***

General media enquiries: RMIT External Affairs and Media, 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au

25 May 2026

Share

Return to RMIT News
25 May 2026

Share

Engage

Related News

rba-2024-1220px.jpg

Who is left to foot the bill following Australia’s card surcharge ban?

Debate over Australia’s card surcharge ban is intensifying. While the RBA has cut interchange fee caps in a bid to lower payment costs for businesses, an RMIT expert warns that unless banks and payment providers pass on those savings, small businesses risk absorbing costs previously charged to customers. 

Person tapping a card on an efpos machine

Cash is back as we head into sales season

Australia's October 1 card surcharge ban is reshaping how consumers think about money and spending – especially heading into peak summer sales season. An RMIT expert explains the impact this could have on how consumers approach spending. 

Food shelves

Should governments regulate supermarkets or run them?

The Green Institute has proposed establishing a publicly owned supermarket chain to challenge the dominance of Coles and Woolworths. An RMIT expert says increasing competition would be a more effective way to reduce grocery prices than having governments enter the retail market. 

aust-cham-1220x732.jpg

Majority of Australian businesses recommend investing in Southeast Asia

Australian businesses operating in Southeast Asia remain confident of future success and expansion in the region, according to the latest AustCham Australian Business in ASEAN Survey. 

Show more
aboriginal flag float-starttorres strait flag float-start

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

More information