It should hardly come as a surprise that the cost of living crisis in Australia is taking a toll on the mental well-being of pretty much everybody. As the period of turmoil and financial stress continues, as many as 2.7 million Australians could quit their jobs as a result.
A study conducted by Allianz revealed that as Australians across various types of workplaces suffer the combined impacts of the cost of living crisis, and rising mental health challenges from workplaces failing to accommodate neurodiversity, an estimated 2.7 million workers could hand in their resignation slips within the next six months to 12 months.
Last year in September it was reported that this number was 1.4 million, but because the cost of living crisis has continued to force people to make their dollars stretch, that number has almost doubled.
Of the 2,126 people surveyed, 46 per cent of employees directly referenced the cost of living crisis as a reason for low job satisfaction and feelings of burnout.
Which makes sense right? If we work so we can afford nice things, but suddenly we can’t afford nice things, then the meaning of work becomes distressingly vague.
As well as that, nearly half (48 per cent) of employees claimed to feel fatigued and burnt out in their current work environment.
And then the big statistic of the day revealed that a whopping 36 per cent of workers would consider leaving their job within the next six months to 12 months.
Hot, damn. That is a lot of unhappy little worker bees with not enough honey.
Another factor contributing to the 2.7 million Aussies looking to quit was the 42 per cent of neurodivergent workers who feel they would be perceived poorly by their boss for sharing they are neurodivergent, and therefore don’t.
In order to battle the potential tsunami wave of employees looking to hang up their hats, organisational psychologist and Co-Director of Transitioning Well Dr Sarah Cotton says workplaces need to actually care about who their workers are as individuals.
“Through our work, it is clear that managers are navigating a highly complex working environment, amongst a diverse workforce that is calling for workplaces to embrace the whole person,” said Cotton.
“It is critical that organisations view their people as more than just workers and take the time to truly understand the often messy intersections between life and work in order to provide tailored support in meaningful and holistic ways.”
Additionally, Allianz’ research highlighted that to keep workers happy and productive, workplaces need to have proactive mental health support plans readily available for employees.
Making sure we actually care about each other might not be the be-and-end-all solution to the cost of living crisis, but by god we’d be bonkers to try and solve it alone.
