Research identifies 2 distinctive patterns in staff retention across industries

Job switching in the workforce varies depending on occupation, and there are two distinct categories of occupations in the workforce: closed circuit occupations and revolving door occupations, according to Indeed.

Based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1.1 million Australian workers switched jobs over the past year. Approximately 680,000 of this group of Australian workers changed their career path (two in three changed their employer to achieve this), and the remainder of these workers switched roles within their organisation.

Using data it collected between 2022 and 2024, Indeed unveiled patterns in occupations, which led it to dub two categories of occupations, both on either side of the retention spectrum: “revolving door” occupations and “closed circuit” occupations.

In this research, Indeed found that job switching was most common in hospitality and tourism, agriculture and forestry, loading and stocking, and food preparation and service – these are what Indeed called revolving door occupations.

By comparison, it found that job switching was lowest in occupations in nursing, software development, personal care and home health, physicians and surgeons, childcare, management, and sports occupations – Indeed categorised these occupations as “closed circuit”.

Indeed characterised occupations as either “revolving door” or “closed circuit” based on factors such as difficulty of entry and pay levels. For example, “revolving door” occupations have lower barriers for entry or involve a more general and transferable skill set; contrasted with “closed-circuit” occupations, which involve skill sets more specialised and that require extensive education and training.

Revolving or closed?

According to its data, Indeed found that between 2022 and 2024, 2.2 per cent of Indeed users change jobs every month. Through these findings, it observed that Australian job-switching patterns resembled those of the United States, from which it established its “revolving door” and “closed circuit” labels.

Indeed research showed that agriculture and forestry had the highest rates of job switching – 3.3 per cent of workers in these occupations switched into a new role every month. Occupations in loading and stocking and food preparation and service also had higher job-switching rates compared to other occupations.

While a large proportion of workers left these occupations in the last month, roles in agriculture and forestry, hospitality and tourism, insurance, medical information, and loading and stocking all attracted a high volume of applicants from other occupations.

Indeed APAC economist Callam Pickering (pictured) said: “A common characteristic of ‘revolving door’ occupations is that they are primarily entry-level roles that workers might do temporarily while at school or while training for a better opportunity.”

In contrast, only 1.4 per cent of respondents in childcare, management, and sports occupations – this was one-third less than the national job-switching average; about two in three occupations also had a job switching lower than the national average.

“Job switching among HR professionals is higher than the national average. Human resources also attract a high number of workers from other professions. Many HR professionals may change jobs frequently, but they’ll often move into HR jobs at other companies or organisations rather than leave the profession entirely,” Pickering said.

Leaving the profession

Only one in three workers in nursing left their profession, Indeed found; however, the likelihood of leaving varied depending on the role – particularly between nursing assistants (62 per cent) and registered nurses (19 per cent).

Generally, healthcare roles were found to be the most loyal and had the lowest leaving rates. Personal care and home health (41 per cent), physicians and surgeons (45 per cent), and therapy (46 per cent) were some of the best-performing; however, they were topped by software development (39 per cent), the research found.

Comparatively, professions in hospitality and tourism, childcare (85 per cent), arts and entertainment (85 per cent), logistic support (84 per cent), and medical information (83 per cent) had the highest leaving rates, it revealed.

Pickering said: “Sometimes, career progression will shift workers out of these occupations. For example, a nurse could be promoted into management or administration. Workers in these ‘closed circuit’ jobs, such as nursing and software development, appear at heightened risk of stress and burnout, which can lead to workers seeking less demanding work or even taking a career break.”

“The key to creating loyalty among workers in these jobs is creating career pathways that convince workers that they have a future with their employer. Good pay, work conditions, and training opportunities can create loyal workers in any industry.”

“Strong onboarding processes and knowledge transfer can limit the disruption caused by high turnover. Investing more in training and development can send a strong signal to workers that you are invested in their career and convince workers they have a future at your organisation.”