Cost of living woes trump worker satisfaction

Eight in 10 employees say cost of living is a bigger worry than any workplace dissatisfaction.
(Photo: Bianca De Marchi / AAP PHOTOS)

By Holly Hales in Melbourne

Four in five working Australians are more concerned about living costs than job satisfaction.

Research by tech company SafetyCulture details challenges facing frontline industries amid several years of inflation.

It found women workers to be more concerned about the impact of the cost of living, with 85 per cent focused on price spikes compared to 75 per cent of men.

Across both genders, 79 per cent of the more than 2000 employees and managers who took part in the study flagged increasing prices as their biggest worry, over any workplace dissatisfaction.

Hospitality and retail staff had the highest level cost-of-living anxiety compared to all others at 84 and 80 per cent respectively.

Chief product officer Sam Byrnes said bosses needed to take notice of how economic conditions were impacting staff.

“Frontline workers are telling us they feel unheard, overstretched and compromised,” he said.

“On top of this, there is a strained relationship between employees and management that isn’t conducive to a healthy workplace culture or optimal outputs.

“It’s time businesses woke up to the fact that listening to people on the frontline is one of  the fastest ways to improve the bottom line.”

When surveyed workers were asked what could improve the relationship between management and frontline employers, better pay and benefits came out on top.

Again, female respondents placed greater emphasis on this, at 58 per cent female versus 55 per cent of men.

Sixty five per cent of Gen Z workers said better pay and benefits would improve the relationship compared to 51 per cent of Boomers.

The majority, 76 per cent, of Aussie workers are dissatisfied with some aspect of their job.

Among these, the primary reasons are unreasonable expectations leading to burnout, 37 per cent, slow responses to resolving issues or risks, 36 per cent, and pressure to cut corners to save time or money, 33 per cent.

ONE RESPONSE TO COST OF LIVING WOES TRUMP WORKER SATISFACTION

Tony Magee says: 23 October 2024 at 5:22 pm

Supermarket grocery prices are frequently mentioned as a major contributor to the cost of living crisis we are all facing in Australia. This is true, but one thing that has largely been forgotten about and which is also a major contributing factor to our financial hardship, is the privatisation of essential services, over many decades by successive federal Labor and Liberal governments. Telstra was once Telecom – 100% government owned and operated. Now privatised. Electricity and water, all previously 100% government owned and operated, now privatised. Qantas, previously a government owned and operated airline, is now privatised and has been for many years. There are other examples as well. The only service we really have left that’s government owned and operated is Australia Post. The Australian general public are now largely at the mercy of corporate greed.

First published at Canberra City News, via Australian Associated Press, October 22, 2024