2025 Employment Hero Annual Jobs Report Reveals a Workforce Under Pressure, On the Move, and Rewriting the Rules

Career Climbers / 1st October 2025

Employment Hero, the global authority on employment, has released its 2025 Annual Jobs Report, Work in Motion: a snapshot of the world of work, revealing how cost-of-living pressures, shifting values, generational change, navigating AI and other technological changes are reshaping employment across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Drawing on aggregated insights from more than 350,000 small businesses and 2 million employees in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, alongside a YouGov survey of 3,635 workers across all four markets, the report charts a global workforce navigating a world fraught with conflict and unease, but also immense opportunity for growth and reinvention.

Key trends from the report:

1. The Global Pressure Cooker 

Cost-of-living pressures are the universal force reshaping the workforce, leaving nearly half of employees unsure they could find another job quickly if they lost theirs.

Despite employment growth (up 5.8% in Australia, 2.4% in New Zealand, 2.6% in the UK), workers feel squeezed. Nearly half of employees (45%) say they wouldn’t be confident of finding a new job within three months if they lost theirs. Rising costs are forcing tough choices: how to work, where to work, and how many jobs to hold.

2. Welcome To The Multi-Verse

One in three workers now hold multiple jobs, signalling the rise of “poly-employment”.

For many, one job is no longer enough. One in three workers globally (30%) now holds multiple roles, rising to 36% in Canada and nearly half of 18–24s (47%). In Australia and New Zealand, 43% of employees report taking on extra hours or side jobs. Data shows part-time hours climbing steadily, up 1.3% YoY in Australia and 3.8% in New Zealand (including an 18% surge among teens).

3. No Pressure, Less Stress

Gen Z are prioritising job security over risky ventures like startups.

Most employees now want balance over burnout, choosing roles with manageable pressure and responsibility.

Globally, workers want balance, not burnout. A majority (56%) say they prefer jobs without excessive pressure or responsibility, even among peak-career cohorts. The wellbeing reset is reshaping career choices in every market.

4. The New Blueprint for Work

Gen Z are blending caution with ambition, are financially pragmatic, but also the most likely to change careers, industries, or even countries in search of growth and purpose.

Gen Z is rewriting the rulebook: financially cautious yet ambitious in scope. They are the most likely to change industries, careers, or locations in pursuit of growth and purpose, while also facing the sharpest cost-of-living pressures. 58% report working extra hours just to get by, underscoring the competing forces shaping the future of work.

Comment: Ben Thompson, Co-founder and CEO of Employment Hero

“Employment Hero’s Annual Jobs report combines real-time employer insights with employee sentiment. The way people work has fundamentally transformed across every market. We are seeing the same forces at play, rising costs, shifting priorities, navigating AI and other technological changes and a growing willingness among employees to rethink how, where, and why they work. Employers are navigating enormous change too, balancing talent shortages, increasing costs of running a business, output challenges, and new expectations from employees.”