Businesses are paying the price, as almost half of Australians (44.2%) confess to wasting hours of company time surfing the net for a new job, with 38% of workers admitting they’ve applied for a new role during work time, according to new research*.
And the reason – it’s all down to the boss. 72% of Australians say a decent boss is the most important aspect for employee work happiness, with 47% admitting a bad superior would be their main trigger for quitting their job, reveals the study by free online classifieds website Gumtree.com.au.
Whilst getting on with your colleagues (59%) and having a good pay (43.2%) topped the poll as employment pros, job perks such as a gym membership, parking, and free tea/coffee were deemed as insignificant in comparison to having a good and fair manager.
And when it comes to sick leave, half (51%) of those surveyed have “chucked a sickie” from work, with a fifth (20%) admitting the reason was to attend a job interview.
However, it’s not all bad news; 52% of those interviewed declare they are happy in their current job role, although two thirds of survey participants (64%) plan to look for a new job within the next 12 months.
A spokesperson for Gumtree Australia says: “Companies need to become increasingly aware that managers play such a major role in staff retention and happiness. Free classifieds website Gumtree.com.au has noticed a large volume of users advertising and searching for jobs online since Easter, with jobs ads growing at over 50% compared to the same time last year.”
* Research carried out among 935 adults Australia-wide by Gumtree.com.au – full survey results on request
About Gumtree.com.au:
Gumtree.com.au is your local community online. Launched in Sydney in 2004 after its overwhelming success as a London-based classifieds website, Gumtree has quickly become a highly popular site in Australia, created to help people connect with each other and find whatever they might be looking for, whether that be a new job, place to rent, furniture for the home, car to drive or even a fitness instructor.
The online classifieds website, which is a part of the eBay family, attracts over 500,000 unique visitors per month in Australia.
As a faster, easier and more convenient alternative to other costly sites, Gumtree offers everything you need in one location. And as well as providing conventional classifieds, on Gumtree likeminded individuals can share favourite interests, hobbies and local info about everything from social culture to the latest events.
From its beginnings as a London classifieds in 2000, Gumtree has grown massively over the past eight years. It now covers over 76 cities, from the U.K. to Poland, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
It is so named because the gum is native to the three nationalities at which the site was originally aimed (Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans living in the U.K.), and who helped make it the success that it is today.
Outside of Sydney, there are 9 other ‘local gums’, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth and Tasmania, and 2 recently launched sites for Darwin and the Gold Coast.
