Casual employees cite flexibility, higher pay as reasons for preferring current work status
Flexibility has emerged as the top reason why casual employees in Australia prefer their current employment status, despite new legislation that allows them to transition to permanent roles.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that 22.3% of employees across the country are casual workers.
Among them, 75% indicated that they currently prefer casual employment, citing the following reasons:
Among casual workers who do not prefer casual employment, 31% said this is because they want to have paid leave entitlements, while 21% said it is because they want to have a more secure employment.
The latest amendment to Australia's employment laws classifies workers as casual if:
The law, which took effect in late August, also introduces a new pathway for casual employees to gain full-time or part-time (permanent) arrangements.
According to the ABS data, 75% of casual employees have not had a discussion with their employer about changing their employment status from casual to non-casual. Among them, 57% indicated that they prefer casual employment.
Meanwhile, the latest ABS data also revealed that the percentage of employees working from home has slightly declined to 36% in August 2024.
However, this percentage remains four percentage points higher than the pre-pandemic levels.
"This shows that many of the changes in working arrangements have continued beyond the pandemic," said David Taylor, ABS head of labour statistics, in a statement.
According to the report, the main reason people usually worked from home was to work more flexibly or choose their own hours (24.8%).
Nearly a quarter (23.1%) also said this is because their business operates from home or they have a home-based job.
The findings come as more Australian employers, such as Tabcorp and the New South Wales government, begin reintroducing onsite arrangements after years of allowing work from home.
