Gartner HR Survey Finds Australian Employee Financial Wellness Hits Three-Year Low

“Current financial instability is placing significant pressure on Australian employees, yet they’re caught in a ‘stay or go’ paralysis based on achieving anticipated compensation gains,” said Neal Woolrich, Director, Advisory in the Gartner HR practice. “This can create an unproductive and sometimes toxic environment, making it critical for organizations to focus on tackling potential workforce performance issues.”

According to the Gartner survey, the intent of Australian employees to stay with their current employer has dropped to the lowest point in three years, declining from 45.1% in 2Q22 to 32.9% in 1Q25. This is despite confidence in job availability remaining stagnant at 57.5%.

“When pay is constrained and organizations have limitations on what they can do to improve this, employees start focusing their attention on what else is going on in the workplace, such as the reputation of senior leadership, ethical culture and workplace integrity,” said Woolrich. “This has a major influence on their decision on whether to stay or start looking for a new job elsewhere.”

Employees Seeking Quality Leadership
Gartner’s survey found the reputation of senior leadership moved up four places to enter the top 10 reasons employees gave for leaving their organization in 1Q25, highlighting the need for leaders to build trust and credibility within the workplace.

“A respected leader boosts morale and helps foster a culture of motivation and loyalty,” said Woolrich. “During a time of great uncertainty, organizations that focus on providing this to their workforce are more likely to create an environment that is fair, with engaged and higher performing employees.”

Woolrich added: “Many organizations are implementing or considering return to office mandates as a way to drive collaboration, productivity and a sense of connectedness. But what matters is not where work gets done, but how work gets done. The most critical ingredient is a collaborative team culture.”

In addition, job interest alignment entered the top 10 drivers of attraction for the first time in 12 months, as employees focus on roles that match their personal beliefs. This is also reflected in a greater focus placed on working for an organization with ethical leadership and workplace integrity, with ethics jumping three places to rank 10th (see Table 1).