Less people are changing jobs, and that’s bad.

Australia's job mobility rate has fallen to 7.2 per cent, its lowest point since records began in 1972. Just over a million employed Australians changed employer in the year to February 2026, down from 7.7 per cent the year before. On its face, that sounds like a country of settled, loyal workers. What it actually describes is a labour market losing its capacity to allocate talent where it is most productive.

A healthy economy should not need a pandemic to allocate labour efficiently

The mechanism here is not complicated. When a worker moves from a worse job to a better one, they capture a wage gain, the new employer gets the skills they needed, and the vacancy they leave gets filled by someone else moving up. Job mobility is not just about individuals improving their lot; it is the process by which an economy sorts people into their most productive roles. When that process slows, the losses are diffuse and invisible. Nobody gets a letter explaining that their career stalled because labour market dynamism declined. They just stop getting offers, or stop looking.

The historical data from the ABS makes the trend hard to ignore. In 1989, nearly one in five employed Australians changed jobs in a year. By the mid-2000s that had fallen to around one in nine. Today it is one in fourteen. There was a brief recovery after the COVID-19 disruption, when the rate spiked to 9.5 and 9.6 per cent in 2022 and 2023, as workers took advantage of a tight labour market to trade up. That moment has passed. We are now well below where we were before the pandemic.

It is tempting to read the COVID peak charitably and conclude that the system works: when conditions are right, people move. The problem is that conditions being right required a once-in-a-generation shock to the labour market.

It is tempting to read the COVID peak charitably and conclude that the system works: when conditions are right, people move. The problem is that conditions being right required a once-in-a-generation shock to the labour market. A healthy economy should not need a pandemic to remind it to allocate labour efficiently.

The decline is hitting women and young workers hardest

The demographics within the data tell part of the story. Workers aged 15 to 24 have a mobility rate of 12 per cent, the highest of any cohort. Workers aged 65 and over change jobs at a rate of just 1.2 per cent. That gradient is normal and expected. What is concerning is that the rate is falling even among younger cohorts, who historically drive turnover and use early-career movement to establish themselves in better-paid roles. If young workers are staying put more than they used to, that is not stability. That is a signal that the opportunities to move up are narrowing.

The gender split is worth noting too. Women's job mobility fell 0.8 percentage points in a single year, to 7.1 per cent. Men fell 0.2 points, to 7.4 per cent. The gap is not enormous but the direction is. Women, who already face structural barriers to senior roles and wage parity, are now moving between employers less than they were, which is one of the mechanisms through which those barriers compound over time.

Low mobility and low productivity are feeding the same problem

None of this happens in isolation. Low job mobility tends to go alongside wage stagnation, because workers without outside options cannot credibly negotiate for more. It tends to go alongside lower productivity, because people are not moving to where their skills are most valued. As we have covered before, Australia's labour productivity grew just 0.3 per cent in 2024-25, and the mechanisms are connected. Workers stuck in roles below their ceiling are not contributing everything they could. Employers who know their workforce is unlikely to leave have less pressure to invest in upskilling, better management, or higher pay.

There are possible benign explanations. An ageing workforce naturally skews toward lower mobility. Workers in longer tenures may simply be well-matched to their roles. And the ABS notes this is a continuation of a long-term structural trend, not a sudden collapse. But the trend has been running for fifty years, and each year it continues is another year of compounding cost to people who needed the labour market to be dynamic enough to let them move up.

The chart that the ABS published today is, quietly, a picture of an economy that is getting harder to get ahead in. The rungs on the career ladder are where they have always been. There are just fewer people climbing.

Sources

Australian Bureau of Statistics — Job mobility continues to decline into 2026

The Bearing — Productivity Commission opens data dashboard on Australia's stalling output growth

The Bearing — Higher wages in more industries, but...

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Australia's current job mobility rate?
Australia's job mobility rate fell to 7.2 per cent in the year to February 2026, its lowest level since records began in 1972. That means just over one in fourteen employed Australians changed employer in the year — down from nearly one in five in 1989.

Why does it matter if workers stop changing jobs?
When workers move from worse jobs to better ones, they earn more and their skills go to employers who need them most — a process that sorts the whole economy toward higher productivity. When mobility falls, that sorting slows, wages stagnate because workers have less bargaining leverage, and employers face less pressure to invest in pay or skills.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect job mobility in Australia?
Yes. Job mobility spiked to 9.5 and 9.6 per cent in 2022 and 2023 as workers used a tight labour market to trade up to better roles. That recovery has since fully reversed, and the rate is now well below pre-pandemic levels.

Are young Australians changing jobs less than they used to?
Workers aged 15 to 24 still have the highest mobility rate of any age group at 12 per cent, but the rate is falling even among younger cohorts. That matters because early-career job changes are one of the main mechanisms through which people establish themselves in better-paid roles.

Why are women's job mobility rates falling faster than men's?
Women's job mobility fell 0.8 percentage points in a single year to 7.1 per cent, compared to a 0.2-point fall for men to 7.4 per cent. Moving between employers is one of the ways workers overcome structural barriers to senior roles and higher pay, so a faster decline in mobility risks compounding the wage and seniority gaps women already face.