According to Roy Morgan research, two-thirds of working Australians have had to change their employment due to the COVID-19 crisis, and this rate is even higher in New South Wales (70%), Victoria (71%) and Tasmania (74%).
“The second wave of the coronavirus crisis since June has been far more deadly than the first, but heavily concentrated in Victoria rather than felt equally around the nation,” said Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan.
“However, there have been significant spillover effects into NSW, with hundreds of new cases linked to Victoria and the renewed outbreak has led other states such as Tasmania, Queensland, and Western Australia to keep their borders closed.”
As of July 2020, 3.9 million working Australians were working from home (25%), 3.2 million had reduced working hours (21%), and 1.2 million (7%) had no work available. However, 13% had an increase in work hours in July.
“It’s important to understand that when the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends in April 2021 many employees that have had a changed employment situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic may well find themselves out of work as their employer adjusts to the economic reality without an ongoing wage subsidy,” said Levine.
