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What workers really want (Clue: It’s more than money)

Money comes second to work-life balance across the three major hiring industries.

Money comes second to work-life balance across the three major hiring industries. Photo: Getty

Australian workers are choosing work-life balance over cash when it comes to their jobs.

For some, perks such as flexible working hours, time in lieu and working-from-home arrangements rank higher than salary and compensation, data from employment marketplace SEEK shows.

Work-life balance was the top priority for workers searching for positions across the Trades and Services, Healthcare and Medical, and Hospitality and Tourism industries, which are the three busiest hiring industries in Australia now.

SEEK job ads have risen by 160.2 per cent in Hospitality and Tourism, 90.3 per cent in Trades and Services, and 63.3 per cent in Healthcare and Medical (since pre-pandemic March 2019).

For job seekers, it means more options and less competition. For hiring companies, it translates to putting more incentives on the table to win new employees.

But if organisations can’t offer higher salaries or time off for workers, they should be spruiking other attractive qualities.

Job's Boom

The widespread skills shortage across Australia’s job market has resulted in a wealth of opportunities for jobseekers. Photo: Getty

These include personalised work solutions to suit potential employees, said Caroline North, SEEK Research Manager.

“There’s no one size fits all work-life balance solution,” she said.

“When we look at the elements that make up work-life balance, we see that different things, such as the ability to work part-time, additional leave and time in lieu, are important to different industries.

“So work-life balance can present itself differently across different industries.”

SEEK’s Laws of Attraction data is based on the survey responses of more than 11,500 Australians to help businesses understand what job seekers are looking for.

Work-life balance ranks highly across the three broad industries, most especially for those in the Trades and Services industry with 18 per cent reporting the ability to work part-time is a must-have, followed by additional leave for 17 per cent.

Additional leave is the No.1 priority for 32 per cent of workers in Australia’s COVID-weary Healthcare and Medical industry, followed by time in lieu for 30 per cent.

Wanting a job that offers happy and healthy conditions doesn’t mean pay isn’t important – it’s just a question of getting the balance right, Ms North explained.

“It’s that shift in importance that someone’s looking at for work-life balance over salary and compensation,” she said.

“They are looking at what they are willing to trade off and where their priorities lie, which could be personal lifestyle priorities, family priorities or where they are in their overall career and what they are looking to do.

“This data isn’t saying salary and compensation aren’t important, it’s more about relative importance to [other drivers].”

The widespread skills shortage across Australia’s job market has resulted in a wealth of opportunities for job seekers.

To understand what Australians in your industry expect of jobs in 2022, visit SEEK Laws of Attraction.

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