Hiring and firing at the same time: Australian workplaces enter ‘constant change’ era
Australian organisations are increasingly managing multiple workforce changes at once, with employers recruiting, restructuring, reskilling, reorganising and, in some cases, making redundancies concurrently, according to a new report from the Australian HR Institute (AHRI), Managing the 5Rs in a rapidly changing environment.
The report finds that more than a quarter (26%) of organisations are implementing at least three of these activities at once. This reflects a shift away from isolated responses toward more interconnected and continuous workforce planning that is driven by economic pressure, skills shortages and technological change.
AHRI CEO Sarah McCann-Bartlett said the findings highlight a more complex and continuous approach to workforce planning and management.
“Australian workplaces have undergone a shift from periodic change to continuous adjustment. Employers are no longer recruiting, restructuring or reskilling in sequence, they’re doing all of it at once. We’re in a labour market where the redefining of roles is happening in real time and fundamentally reshaping the employee and candidate experience.”
The report highlights that workforce demand is being reallocated rather than declining. The findings are consistent with recent AHRI research showing that while redundancies are occurring in some parts of organisations, 91% of organisations planning redundancies were also recruiting at the same time1.
When redundancies occur, they are primarily driven by restructuring and organisational redesign rather than cost-cutting measures and recruitment difficulties are experienced most predominantly across professional roles, managerial roles, technicians and trades.
“Jobs are not just disappearing, they are being redefined,” McCann-Bartlett said. “As some roles are displaced or reshaped, new opportunities are emerging. The challenge for organisations is how quickly they can adapt their workforce to meet those changing needs by building more adaptable and dynamic skilled systems.
“For employees, this shows the importance in learning new skills to adapt to changing role requirements over time.”
Despite the importance of reskilling, there has been mixed progress. Only three in ten employers (30%) are reskilling at scale, with many organisations indicating their reskilling efforts are limited or ad hoc. This is despite recent AHRI evidence demonstrating a clear link between training investment and improved financial performance21.
“Reskilling is a business imperative,” McCann-Bartlett said. “The evidence is increasingly clear that organisations that invest in building the capability of their existing workforce are better positioned to respond to technological change like the introduction of AI.”
Reorganisation has become a key feature of this shift, with around two-thirds (33%) of organisations reporting at least one significant restructure in the past three years. These changes are primarily driven by business strategy, leadership changes and organisational priorities.
Meanwhile, where redundancies occur, 68% of organisations cite restructuring as the primary driver rather than short-term cost-cutting. This is important as the cost of replacing an employee estimated at $28,500, emphasising the importance of long-term, reskilling and reorganisation strategies.
“Too many organisations are not estimating the actual cost of turnover,” McCann-Bartlett said. “Without understanding that cost, and the drivers behind this, such as management capability and job design, it becomes much harder to prioritise the investments needed to keep people engaged and supported.”
The report identifies a gap between the scale and complexity of recruitment activity and the use of technology. Despite high application volumes, nearly three-quarters (74%) of organisations continue to rely on manual processes to review applications, and adoption of AI-enabled recruitment tools remains limited.
“There is a real opportunity for organisations to better leverage technology to improve efficiency and decision-making during the recruitment process,” McCann-Bartlett said. “But this needs to be done thoughtfully, with the right governance frameworks in place to ensure fairness, transparency and trust.”
