Workers more hopeful on post-virus economy

Finbar O'Mallon
(Australian Associated Press)

Australians are becoming more optimistic about their long term job prospects, believing the country might have seen the worst of the coronavirus economic impact.

It comes as new employment figures show one in three food and accommodation workers lost their jobs between mid-March and mid-April.

A new survey shows a slight increase in the number of small and medium-sized business employees who believe they'll be better off in six months as job opportunities rise.

The LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index found builders, educators and manufacturing workers are the most pessimistic about their futures.

Public sector, finance and IT workers are much more optimistic.

Australians are more upbeat about the jobs market than a fortnight earlier, suggesting people may feel the worst of the economic fallout has passed.

More than half of respondents report a decrease in personal spending, while nearly two-thirds of unemployed Australians are spending less.

Nearly a quarter of small and medium-sized business employees think they'll be better off in six months, up from 16 per cent two weeks ago.

But the largest proportion (41 per cent) still believe they will be worse off in six months.

Across all industries, Australians are more positive about the long term than the short term.

LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand manager Matt Tindale said confidence was rising as authorities slowly got control over the coronavirus.

"However, we are seeing discrepancy in terms of confidence across industries," he said.

Jobs data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday also found a third of arts and recreation jobs were gone.

The Australian economy had lost 7.5 per cent of jobs, with wages shrinking by 8.2 per cent, according to the bureau.

Food and accommodation workers aged 20 to 29 and over 70 were the hardest hit, with more than 40 per cent of those age groups out of work.

JOBS FUTURE

LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index data from April 13 to April 19.

• 54 per cent of working Australians report a drop in personal spending, compared to 70 per cent of unemployed people.
• 51 per cent of active job seekers have increased the time they've spent looking for work, down from 59 per cent two weeks ago.
• 23 per cent of small and medium-sized business employees think they'll be better off in six months, up from 16 per cent two weeks ago.
• 41 per cent of small and medium-sized business employees think they'll be worse off in six months, down from 42 per cent two weeks ago.
• 64 per cent of finance and IT workers believe they'll be better off in two years time, compared to 34 per cent of education sector employees.
• 49 per cent of construction workers, and 47 per cent of education workers think they will be worse off in six months.