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Nearly three in 10 Australian finance professionals (27%) claim their confidence in the national economy has declined in the past six months and Australia’s economic outlook splits finance professionals nearly down the middle, between those who think the economy will perform better in the near future (48%) and those who take a more pessimistic approach (52%).
The Employment Survey conducted by online career site eFinancialCareers, found that among those whose confidence in the national economy had decreased, 31% blamed ‘poor government strategy’, followed by ‘lack of employment opportunities’ (20%), ‘deterioration of business outlook’ and ‘future prospects for mining and commodities’ (both 11%).
eFinancialCareers MD APAC, George McFerran, says the high number of people electing government strategy as a reason for decline can probably be attributed to the fact Australia is in an election year, with increased scrutiny of economic policy, especially on initiatives like the carbon tax.
“Interestingly, less than 10% of finance professionals cited global economic conditions as the key reason for a decrease in confidence.”
The survey also found when it comes to individual career progression, more than four in 10 surveyed professionals (43%) believe their company’s recent performance has had a negative impact on their career prospects. Furthermore, nearly eight in 10 (79%) expect the number of people employed at their organisation to remain the same or decrease in the next six months.
“These results highlight real uncertainty in the market and illustrate the close relationship between business confidence and an individual career prospects. Nearly four in 10 feel uncertain they could find a position matching their experience and compensation in the next six months if they needed to,” says McFerran.
