Australians wanting to earn more money will be urged to switch jobs by the federal Treasurer, in a bid to keep the country’s labour marxjmtzywket growing.
In a speech to the Australian Industry Group on Monday, Josh Frydenberg will encourage Australians to take advantage of a “great reshuffle” to score a pay rise and drive unemployment rates down.
Mr Frydenberg will quote Treasury analysis that shows a record 300,000 workers in the December quarter said they left their jobs for a new opportunity, with the rate of people taking up new jobs now almost 10 per cent higher than the pre-Covid average.
“Unlike some other countries, we are seeing a ‘great reshuffle’ rather than a ‘great resignation’,” Mr Frydenberg will say on Monday.
“There remain 2.8 million fewer Americans employed than before the pandemic, with the participation rate in the United States and United Kingdom … currently below their pre-pandemic levels.
“But here in Australia the opposite is true, the participation rate is close to its record high.
“A stronger and more dynamic jobs market leads to increased productivity and wages. Switching jobs allows workers to move up the job ladder for better pay.”
Treasury analysis of Australian Taxation Office payroll data shows workers who switch jobs typically enjoy a pay rise of between eight and 10 per cent.
“When workers are in high demand, businesses are more likely to invest in capital, making workers more productive and businesses more efficient,” Mr Frydenberg will say.
“It also leads to better job matching, moving higher skilled workers into higher skilled jobs. All of this helps to lift productivity.”
Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers told Sky News on Sunday that Labor wasn’t planning to deal with a decade of wage stagnation without dealing with job insecurity, which he called a “cancer” on the labour market.
“We want and we expect the economy to recover strongly in time but it needs to be a recovery that works for everyone,” Mr Chalmers said.
“That’s why cost of living is so important. That’s why wages, childcare and all the other issues we’ve been talking about today are so important.”
Mr Frydenberg will use the speech to promote the Morrison government’s plan to drive unemployment below four per cent this year.
“This would be the first time since 1974,” Mr Frydenberg will say.
“This is not something anyone would have contemplated just two years ago as the economy stood on the edge of the economic abyss.”
He will also rule out continuing to provide “crisis support” for businesses hard hit by Covid-19, because continued support at crisis levels would do “more economic harm than good”.
“The reality is the economy simply cannot be conditioned to the level of unprecedented support that has been required over the last two years,” he will say.
“This level of government intervention must not become entrenched and become a permanent feature of our system.”
During his speech, Mr Frydenberg will also outline the government’s plans to make rapid antigen tests tax deductible, while businesses purchasing testing kits for business purposes will be exempt from the Fringe Benefits Tax.
