Australia’s millennials are the most likely to quit their jobs and are more pessimistic about their wealth and wellbeing than their global counterparts, a new study shows.

More than half of young Aussies are planning to quit within the next two years, with the Deloitte Millennial Survey showing poor workplace flexibility and grim financial prospects are undermining their loyalty to employers.

The global survey of 8000 millennials – those born after 1982 – found that in workplaces offering flexible work conditions, there was little difference in the number of young people who see themselves leaving within two years and those who expect to stay five years or more.

However in organisations with poor flexibility, the difference was significant.

Fifty-eight per cent of young Aussies said they planned to leave their job in the next two years, compared to the global trend which found recent outcomes such as the UK’s Brexit and the US presidential election might be driving a desire among millennials for greater job stability.

Despite their inclinations to leave, three quarters of Australian millennials said they prefer full-time work to freelance or contract work, higher than the global average of 65 per cent.

Young Australians were also found to be more pessimistic about their financial and emotional wellbeing than their global counterparts, due to their uncertainty of ever owning a home and having little faith in the country’s political future.

“I suspect booming house prices in the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne are partly to blame for this pessimism, with many young Australians believing the dream of owning their own home is increasingly out of reach,” Deloitte Australia chief operating officer David Hill said.

Politics is equally depressing for Down Under millennials, with only 22 per cent expecting the overall social and political situation to improve in the next 12 months, compared to 36 per cent globally.

The 2017 Deloitte Millennial Survey shows a gap between Australians and the rest of the world.

Mr Hill said politicians will find it hard to connect with young Aussies who are disillusioned about the political future and want politicians to “use plain, straight-talking language”.

Young Aussies also share a growing concern for terrorism with their global counterparts, with 30 per cent of millennials listing terrorism as a top concern in 2017, compared to four years ago when climate change and resource scarcity were the top contenders.

Australia’s millennials compared to the post–1982 generation elsewhere around the world:


* 58 per cent of Australians plan to quit work within the next two years (38 per cent elsewhere)

* Just eight per cent believe they will be better off than their parent’s generation and four per cent say they’ll be happier
 (28, 23)

* 76 per cent prefer full-time work to freelance or contract work (65)

* 22 per cent expect social and political improvements in the next 12 months (36)

* 30 per cent of Australians rank terrorism as their top concern where 58 per cent of those in developed countries listed war, terrorism and political tension.