Australia's workforce is becoming increasingly stuck - changing jobs less frequently, starting fewer businesses, and moving between states at record low rates, according to new economic data analysed by the ABC.
The statistics paint a picture of declining economic dynamism. Australians are staying in their current jobs longer, not because they're satisfied, but because the risks of changing feel too high. Interstate migration has fallen to its lowest level in decades. New business formation is down. The economy, once praised for its flexibility and mobility, is becoming rigid.
Mate, this should be ringing alarm bells. Economic mobility isn't just about individual opportunity - it's about how efficiently an economy allocates labour and capital. When people can't or won't move to where the opportunities are, everyone ends up poorer.
The ABC analysis shows multiple indicators pointing the same direction. Job switching rates have fallen significantly since 2019. Interstate migration is down 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Business formation rates, while up from pandemic lows, remain below the long-term trend.
Why? The housing crisis is the obvious culprit. When you can barely afford rent in your current city, moving to another state for a better job is terrifying. What if you can't find accommodation? What if rents are even higher? For homeowners, selling and buying in a different city means navigating stamp duty, fluctuating prices, and the risk of being priced out of the market entirely.
But housing is only part of it. Job security has become more precious as wage growth has stagnated. Taking a risk on a new employer or starting a business feels dangerous when you've got a mortgage (or rent) that eats half your income. The calculus has changed: steady employment beats potential opportunity.
This has broader economic implications. When workers can't easily relocate, labour shortages in some regions coexist with unemployment in others. When people won't risk job changes, skills mismatches persist. When entrepreneurs don't start businesses, innovation slows.
Australia is also seeing declining internal migration from Melbourne and Sydney to regional areas. During the pandemic, many predicted a permanent shift to remote work would allow people to leave expensive cities. Some did, briefly. But as employers demanded returns to office and remote work proved less feasible than hoped, many found themselves stuck - living far from job opportunities, unable to afford moving back.
Economists worry this declining mobility will become self-reinforcing. As fewer people move, social networks become more geographically locked in. Information about opportunities elsewhere dries up. Communities become more insular. The mental map of possibilities shrinks.
Compare this to previous generations. Australian workers once moved readily between states for employment. Mining booms in Western Australia drew workers from Queensland and Victoria. Construction booms in Sydney pulled in labour from across the country. That fluidity is disappearing.
The decline in business formation is equally concerning. Australia has never been a highly entrepreneurial economy compared to the United States, but new business creation has been trending downward for years. When people are struggling with cost of living, they can't risk their savings on a startup. When banks are tightening lending, small business loans are harder to access.
This isn't just about individual disappointment. It's about national productivity. Economies grow through creative destruction - new businesses replacing old ones, workers moving from declining industries to growing ones, capital flowing to its most productive uses. When that process stalls, everyone's living standards suffer.
The data suggests Australia is increasingly trapped in place, both literally and economically. Breaking that pattern will require more than exhortations to take risks. It requires policy changes that make mobility feasible again: housing reform, portable entitlements, reduced interstate barriers, and economic security that makes change feel possible rather than catastrophic.
Right now, too many Australians feel they can't afford to move. And a country where people can't move is a country that's stuck.
