Aleah Espanta-Cunningham spent nearly three years working the radio booths for a high-profile breakfast FM radio show in Melbourne. But eventually burnout took its toll and the 41-year-old decided to throw it all in.
She left a job that paid $80,000 a year to become an apprentice in salons on a $30,000 salary.
“It was hard, and there were times I felt like it was a downgrade [from] becoming a lawyer or journalist or a doctor,” Ms Espanta-Cunningham said.
Many Australians who recently decided to shake up their careers and explore their options, spurred in equal parts by the pandemic and by their long years in the same job.
About 1.3 million people changed jobs during the year ending February 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The ABS data released this week showed job mobility remained high, staying at 2022 levels, which were the highest rate of mobility since February 2012. One-third were people who left for greener pastures or just wanted a change.
Experts sometimes refer to this trend as the “Great Reshuffle,” in which instead of quitting the labour force altogether, people are switching occupations or jumping into new roles – although tens of thousands of people have quit the workforce too.
But with the current economic downturn and businesses tightening their reins, “the window is closing” on opportunities to move, said Linda Jeffrey, national president of the Career Development Association of Australia.
“There’s still a lot of jobs out there, but less than a year ago,” Ms Jeffrey told the ABC. At this stage, rigorous planning was all the more important, she said.
“Think of what you’ve got to offer and consider what is it you want to change,” Ms Jeffrey said. “What do you like about what you’re doing currently? What do you not like?”
Ms Jeffrey said “transferable skills” — those you took from one career to the next — could enable some people to “hit the ground running”.
But there are also resources and programs available for transitioning professionals who feel they need extra knowledge and training.
Ms Espanta-Cunningham took advantage of a government-contracted apprenticeship. It allowed her to earn wages while training. But ultimately, she said her success came down to her “drive to see it through”.