Make your move

Dreaded returning to work this year? Will you be dragging your feet out the door tomorrow morning to go to your job?

There’s a cure for the back-to-work blues. You just have be brave like Caitlin Marett and take that step.

According to 2018’s Survey of Working Life from Statistics NZ, New Zealanders change jobs lots. Of those who earn wages and salaries, half have been in their job for under 18 months.

Workplaces are veritable turnstiles, with the most common amount of time spent in a job just one to three months. True, this may be due to the number of people on shorter-term contracts or temping. However, there are many employees who have frequent job changes, with more than 250,000 wage and salary earners starting a new role every three months.

Before you make the leap, however, it’s worth considering whether you could make your job work better for you.

Again, according to Stats NZ, about half of Kiwi employees have flexible work hours, allowing them to start and finish at different times each day.

The sectors with the highest numbers of “flexitime” arrangements are rental, hiring and real-estate services; and professional, scientific and technical services, where more than 70 per cent have flexible hours.

People with flexible hours report higher levels of satisfaction with both their job and their work-life balance than those without.

Nine out of 10 employees are able to take a few days of unpaid leave if they need and about 40 per cent who work 30 hours or more a week believe their employer would let them drop their hours to under 30 if needed.

Sixteen per cent of employees have arranged with their employer to work from home while continuing to be paid. And that number is rising.

An estimated quarter of parents with a dependent child also have an arrangement with their employer to be paid for work done at home.

Now is always a good time to consider your job options — be it switch or seek better conditions.

Or plan your next holiday.