Would You Walk Away From a Job for Jobseeker?

Controversially in an open discussion with one of our people2people consultants in Queensland, it was suggested that, in the middle of the biggest disruptions to the employment market, people were not willing to consider taking a short term temp role because they ( or their family ) had access to Job Seeker payments. It sounds hard to believe that people would walk past the opportunity to work when unemployment is rising faster than anytime since the great depression. Is it true? Well in one of our regular Facebook live streaming market updates I challenged the audience to answer truthfully….and they responded.

I decided to post a survey on both Twitter and LinkedIn to see what response we would get. The results are below. Although not statistically sound and far from a randomised sample the results were revealing.

If these results are to be believed between 15-20% of Australians would not take an entry level ( Modern Award Private Clerks Award ) three month temp job if they were getting the Job Seeker payment. What does this say about Australians? How should this result affect policy development? Plenty of questions but one thing is for certain the perception that filling a vacancy in a downturn is not exactly as easy as many employers may think. What are your thoughts?