Cost-of-living crisis pushes Aussies into risky job searches

Financial stress, fuelled by rising cost-of-living pressures, is increasing the vulnerability of Australian jobseekers to scams and making them more likely to take risks in their search for work, according to new research from LinkedIn.

According to the LinkedIn Job Search Safety Pulse report, a significant 65 per cent of Australian professionals opted out of applying for an appealing role due to doubts about its legitimacy.

For 37 per cent of those surveyed, this was not an isolated event, but a recurring issue. This suggested that the fear of job scams is no longer merely an annoyance – it is fundamentally altering the way Australians look for work.

Ongoing cost-of-living pressures have directly affected decision making: 49 per cent of Australian professionals admitted that financial stress makes them more likely to take risks when job hunting, and 35 per cent specifically said they would be somewhat more likely to “let their guard down”.

Research has revealed that questioning whether a job is legitimate has become an integral aspect of the job search process, alongside other typical factors such as work/life balance, culture, progression, and more.

The LinkedIn report discovered that 61 per cent of Australians have encountered a job they suspected was fraudulent. Furthermore, 27 per cent have nearly fallen victim to a scam, and 16 per cent have actually been scammed. This figure rises to 25 per cent among Gen Z jobseekers.

LinkedIn career expert Brendan Wong highlighted that measures had been implemented to prevent scammers from entering the job application process.

Wong said: “We block the vast majority of scams before they reach our members, and our focus is on strengthening transparency across the platform.”

“From identity verification to clearer trust signals, we want to support jobseekers in making informed decisions and move forward with confidence.”

In fact, LinkedIn has gone to great lengths in order to combat these scammers and has utilised a three‑layer defence mechanism consisting of detection, verification, and protection processes.

Wong indicated that Australians are, in fact, noticing recurring red flags when it comes to the recognition of scams.

Common trends included: upfront financial demands – such as being asked for payments for training, equipment, or onboarding, as well as premature requests for sensitive personal data, like bank information, tax file numbers, or ID, far too early in the process.

Alongside this, high-pressure tactics, including being rushed to make quick decisions or sign contracts before due diligence can be done, are another key red flag that Wong noted.

Jobseekers are facing severe risks from scammers exploiting the early application period, as LinkedIn data showed that 90 per cent of reported job scams use off-platform redirection to avoid detection and security protections.

Wong said: “Once moved off-platform, jobseekers lose the benefit of tools and features designed to keep them safe, and the trust signals embedded across LinkedIn, which are there to help members make more informed decisions about who they interact with.”

As reported, employment-related scams reached new records in 2025, and cyber intelligence expert Scamwatch discovered that Australians lost around $24.4 million to job and employment scams in 2025 alone, alongside an additional $4 million between January and March 2026.

While the cost-of-living crisis is impacting Australians in several ways, be it struggling to afford groceries, paying rent, or funding for necessities such as transport, the vulnerability of financially stressed Australian jobseekers has ultimately forced them to alter how they search for work.

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