Your next redundancy round could cost more than you think

For James McIlvena, managing director for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore at LHH, the data challenges a long-held assumption about what happens after a redundancy.

“People still assume it’s just a case of, we need to separate for whatever the driving reason is. You’re going to spend a little period of unemployment, but you’ll be subsidised with your separation payment, and then we’ll get you some support, and then you’ll be back into a similar role,” he told HRD.

“But very few people understand the changing face of the job market and how many people are needing to look at doing something differently and use that period differently to what they have in the past.”

Why most laid-off workers aren’t going back

The pivot rate has been steady. Between 56 and 58 per cent of displaced workers in LHH’s data have moved into a different occupation every year since 2022, despite major economic and technological upheaval.

Some roles are far more exposed than others. In customer operations, 90.15 per cent of LHH-supported candidates moved into a different occupation, and only 9.85 per cent returned to the same function.