Real Jobs of the Future 2026

Based on a January 2026 survey of 5,011 working Australians, the Jobs of the Future paints a picture of the Australian workforce.
Here’s a quick summary of the main points:

The Market

The job market is favourable for candidates right now.
44% of working Australians say they are very or somewhat likely to leave their current or expected employer in the next 12 months to gain better pay, flexibility, or career growth — and that figure climbs to 59% among Gen Z, compared with just 19% of Baby Boomers.
Worker confidence is high (85% career satisfaction, 66% optimistic about the next decade), which is fuelling the mobility.
Cost-of-living pressure is the main brake, with 44% admitting they’ve stayed in a job longer than they wanted to for financial reasons.

Takeaways for Job Seekers

It’s a candidate-favourable market for anyone with marketable skills, AI literacy, and a financial buffer to move deliberately.
The workers who come across as resilient in this report share a few traits:
1️⃣ They treat their career as something they manage rather than something that happens to them;
2️⃣ They invest in skills before they’re forced to;
3️⃣ They’re honest with themselves about what AI is doing to their role.
Habits, not credentials, and they’re available to anyone.

Takeaways for Employers

If an employer did only five things based on this report, they would be:
1️⃣ Introduce or formalise flexibility (hours, location, and a 4-day workweek pilot);
2️⃣ Invest visibly in AI upskilling for everyone, not just the young;
3️⃣ Create clearer and faster progression pathways;
4️⃣ Treat mental health and the right to disconnect as policy, not posters; and
5️⃣ Tackle ageism explicitly with named processes (return-to-work programs, age-blind shortlisting, mentor pairings).

Real Jobs of the Future Report 2026 – how Australians are rethinking work, wellbeing, and AI | Real Insurance