Biggest Covid-19-related risks for employees
Q. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, which of the following risks do you think employees are currently the most vulnerable to?
Please rank each of the following from biggest risk (1) to smallest risk (6).
| TOTAL: Biggest risk (Ranked 1) | Total | Employment Status | ||
| In paid employment | Not in paid employment | Retired | ||
| Having less job security | 36% | 34% | 40% | 35% |
| Working in unsafe conditions | 20% | 18% | 24% | 19% |
| Being exploited by employers (e.g. being expected to work unpaid overtime, working long shifts) | 16% | 16% | 15% | 15% |
| Not receiving a pay increase | 10% | 12% | 6% | 13% |
| Not getting paid fairly | 10% | 11% | 8% | 7% |
| Having limited opportunities for career progression | 9% | 9% | 6% | 11% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 552 | 259 | 255 |
- Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, having less job security is seen as the biggest risk for employees by over a third (36%) of people.
- Working in unsafe conditions is seen as the next biggest risk (20%), followed by being exploited by employers (16%).
- Those not in paid employment are most likely to rate job security (40%) and unsafe conditions (24%) as the biggest risk to employees.
Economy: Direct investment vs trickle-down approach
Q. Which of the following is closest to your view on the best way to create jobs and grow the economy?
| Total | Gender | Age Group | ||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| The government should directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers | 69% | 67% | 70% | 57% | 66% | 81% |
| The government should relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs | 19% | 23% | 14% | 28% | 20% | 10% |
| Unsure | 13% | 9% | 16% | 15% | 14% | 9% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 531 | 535 | 340 | 341 | 385 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Liberal + National | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| The government should directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers | 69% | 72% | 66% | 77% | 75% |
| The government should relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs | 19% | 17% | 22% | 19% | 17% |
| Unsure | 13% | 11% | 12% | 5% | 8% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 332 | 433 | 91 | 111 |
- There is a majority preference for the government to directly invest in creating jobs and growing the economy.
- 69% opted for direct investment, while 19% preferred deregulation and lower taxes. 13% were unsure between the two options.
- There was no difference in the support for direct investment between men and women (67% to 70%), but men were more likely to select deregulation (23% to 14%).
- There were no differences in preference between voters of Coalition or Labor, with the majority of each all favouring direct investment (72% of Labor voters, 66% of Coalition voters).
Employment and Job prospects – Long-term unemployed
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about looking for work when the Covid-19 restrictions are eased?
THOSE WHO WERE UNEMPLOYED BEFORE COVID-19 AND WILL BE LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT ONCE RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED (n=135)
| TOTAL:
Agree |
TOTAL: Disagree | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neither agree, nor disagree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | |
| I’m confident I’ll be able to find a well-paying job in my field at my level of experience | 29% | 43% | 6% | 23% | 28% | 21% | 22% |
| I’m confident there will be many appropriate jobs for me | 25% | 45% | 6% | 19% | 31% | 21% | 24% |
- 43% of people who were unemployed before the Covid-19 outbreak disagree that they’ll be able to find a well-paying job in their field at their level of experience and 45% disagree there will be appropriate jobs for them.
Importance of industries
Q. How important are the following industries for providing jobs for Australians into the future?
|
Very important |
Quite important |
Somewhat important |
Not very important |
Don’t know |
|
Very important Feb 2012 |
|
| Construction |
58% |
30% |
9% |
1% |
3% |
|
58% |
| Agriculture |
57% |
27% |
12% |
2% |
3% |
|
– |
| Manufacturing |
55% |
26% |
12% |
4% |
3% |
|
55% |
| Tourism |
53% |
31% |
11% |
3% |
2% |
|
53% |
| Mining |
52% |
29% |
13% |
4% |
2% |
|
64% |
| Retail |
46% |
35% |
14% |
2% |
2% |
|
47% |
| Hospitality |
45% |
37% |
14% |
2% |
2% |
|
46% |
| Finance |
40% |
34% |
19% |
3% |
4% |
|
39% |
| Telecommunications |
37% |
37% |
19% |
4% |
3% |
|
39% |
Respondents regard the construction (58%), agriculture (57%) and manufacturing (55%) industries to be the most important for providing jobs for Australians in the future. These were followed closely by the tourism (53%) and mining (52%) industries.
Since this question was last asked in February 2012, those think mining is very important for future jobs has dropped from 64% to 52%.
Job security
Q. How concerned are you that you or some member of your immediate family will lose their job in the next year or so: very concerned, somewhat concerned, or not at all concerned?
|
|
8 Jun 09 |
5 Oct 09 |
28 Jun 10 |
18 Oct 10 |
4 Apr 11 |
4 Jul 11 |
3 Oct 11 |
26 Mar 12 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
| Total concerned |
52% |
49% |
43% |
40% |
43% |
45% |
47% |
49% |
43% |
55% |
34% |
| Very concerned |
13% |
14% |
9% |
11% |
11% |
13% |
14% |
13% |
9% |
16% |
8% |
| Somewhat concerned |
39% |
35% |
34% |
29% |
32% |
32% |
33% |
36% |
34% |
39% |
26% |
| Not at all concerned |
35% |
40% |
38% |
42% |
43% |
39% |
37% |
36% |
44% |
31% |
51% |
| Don’t know |
6% |
6% |
12% |
10% |
8% |
8% |
7% |
8% |
6% |
7% |
9% |
| No employees in the immediate family |
8% |
5% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
6% |
6% |
Concern over job security has risen slightly since the last time the question was polled, increasing 2 points up from 47% in October 2011 to 49% (total concerned).
In the 12 months from April 2011, total concern has increased from 43% to 49%.
Coalition voters are the most likely to be concerned that they or a member of their immediately family will lose their job in the next year or so (55% total concerned), whereas Greens voters are less likely to be concerned (34% total concerned).
There were no major differences across income or age groups – except for the under 25’s where 41% were concerned and 48% not at all concerned.
Importance of Industries for Providing Jobs
Q. How important are the following industries for providing jobs for Australians into the future?
| Very important | Quite important | Somewhat important | Not very important | Don’t know | |
| Mining | 64% | 24% | 7% | 2% | 3% |
| Construction | 58% | 30% | 9% | 0% | 2% |
| Manufacturing | 55% | 29% | 12% | 2% | 2% |
| Tourism | 53% | 33% | 11% | 1% | 2% |
| Retail | 47% | 35% | 13% | 2% | 2% |
| Hospitality | 46% | 38% | 12% | 1% | 3% |
| Finance | 39% | 38% | 18% | 3% | 3% |
| Telecommunications | 39% | 37% | 18% | 3% | 3% |
Respondents regard the mining (64%), construction (58%) and manufacturing (55%) industries to be the most important for providing jobs for Australians in the future.
This was followed closely by the tourism (53%), retail (47%) and hospitality (46%) industries.
The finance (39%) and telecommunications (39%) industries are the most likely to be seen as only ‘somewhat important’ (18%) for providing jobs.
Most Important Roles of Government
Q. From the following list, what do you think are the three most important roles of the Federal Government? (Number from 1 to 3 where 1 is the most important, 2 the second most important, etc)
| Most important | Second | Third | Total | |
| Delivering basic services like health and education | 18% | 27% | 20% | 65% |
| Managing the economy in uncertain economic times | 20% | 15% | 14% | 49% |
| Making the big decisions for the nations future | 20% | 12% | 12% | 44% |
| Ensuring that all Australians benefit from Australia’s wealth | 13% | 10% | 11% | 34% |
| Supporting Australian industries to provide jobs | 8% | 12% | 12% | 32% |
| Reducing government spending so money can be returned back to taxpayers | 9% | 8% | 8% | 25% |
| Investing in infrastructure including road rail and broadband | 3% | 7% | 10% | 20% |
| Providing support to the most disadvantaged | 4% | 4% | 8% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
Respondents considered that the most important roles of the Federal Government were delivering basic services like health and hospitals (65%), managing the economy in uncertain economic times (49%) and making the big decisions for the nations future (44%).
The least important roles were providing support for the most disadvantaged (16%), investing in infrastructure including road rail and broadband (20%) and reducing government spending so money can be returned to taxpayers (25%).
Party best to handle Issues
Q. Which party do you think is best to handle each of the following issues?
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | |
| Making the big decisions for the nations future | 28% | 41% | 5% | 26% |
| Managing the economy in uncertain economic times | 30% | 44% | 2% | 24% |
| Delivering basic services like health and education | 34% | 36% | 5% | 25% |
| Investing in infrastructure including road rail and broadband | 34% | 36% | 2% | 28% |
| Supporting Australian industries to provide jobs | 33% | 39% | 3% | 25% |
| Reducing government spending so money can be returned back to taxpayers | 21% | 46% | 3% | 29% |
| Ensuring that all Australians benefit from Australia’s wealth | 31% | 34% | 6% | 29% |
| Providing support to the most disadvantaged | 34% | 27% | 9% | 29% |
The Liberal Party was considered substantially better than Labor at making the big decisions for the nations future (41% to 28%), managing the economy in uncertain economic times (44%/30% ) and reducing Government spending so money can be retuned back to taxpayers (46%/21%).
They were also considered a little better at supporting Australian industries to provide jobs (39%/33%). The Labor Party was considered a little better at providing support to the most disadvantaged (34%/27%) and the two parties scored similarly on delivering basic services like health and education, investing in infrastructure including road rail and broadband and ensuring that all Australians benefit from Australia’s wealth.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Federal voting intention
- Leader attributes: Scott Morrison
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Uptake of a Covid-19 vaccine
- Reason those who would get vaccinated against Covid-19 have not been vaccinated yet
- Speed of NSW lockdown
- Time for Covid-19 milestones to occur for NSW
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