We have been through great changes and upheaval and many of us have been reassessing what is important. Inevitably, the work/ life and career arena is one of the areas that people reassess.
A perfect storm moment exists for candidates right now due to a number of pressures on the job market:
- The great resignation has finally hit Australia – Candidates are moving jobs en mass after a period of stagnation during 2020-21
- Overseas candidates have not returned – A large gap exists between available jobs and candidates to fill them
- Baby boomers finally retired during Covid lockdowns and have not returned to work – “The Great Retirement”
Interesting times!
For candidates, this means a time of great opportunity, that you should take advantage of while it lasts.
In the reverse scenario, when there are fewer job vacancies and more candidates, employers are in the position of strength. They have their choice of candidates and can be picky, overlooking people who are solid, but need training or require flexibility in some way.
Right now however, candidates are in the position of strength. Employers have been having trouble getting enough people to fill vacancies, and people in jobs are being offered perks to stay.
Now is the time to make your move, let me give you some food for thought:
- Change jobs in your existing area of expertise
- Ask to move into more interesting/challenging duties/areas at your existing workplace
- Change careers into an area you have been longing to enter
- Ask for ongoing partial working from home options – hybrid solutions
- Ask for compacting your work hours into a 4 day working week
- Ask to reduce your hours to part-time
- Ask for a raise
- What other perks could you ask for? Your public transport travel paid for by your work, a nine-day fortnight with a paid day off every 2 weeks – both of these are perks that I have heard about offered to existing employees.
Employers will give a wider pool of candidates a chance in this environment – new graduates, older candidates, and people returning to the workforce after a career break – parents after parental leave, those made redundant and after a period of recuperation following illness.
Trials are happening overseas of 4 day working weeks for employees. They could become the norm in the future, everywhere.
Now is the time to make your move!
If you need help to take advantage of this moment, contact Maria Cordi, Career Coach at CIRCLE, through the office on 1300 923 000 and she can discuss your needs with you.
Career Coach
Maria holds a Bachelor of Science, with a Psychology major and a Master of Applied Science (Psychology of Coaching) from the University of Sydney. She has a background in Human Resources and Career Planning with Westpac, worked as a Training & Development Consultant with Psychological Assessments Australia, and spent some years working with CIRCLE Recruitment & HR.
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