Australian workers have become more anxious about keeping their jobs, a survey has found.
The number of people who are concerned about their own job security jumped by 5 per cent to 31 per cent in the six months to December last year, the latest ME Bank Household Financial Comfort Report shows.
Job insecurity is now among the top three concerns nominated by the households in the survey.
Respondents concerned about ''finding a new job within two months if unemployed'' rose 1 per cent to 55 per cent of the working population over the same period.
''The rise in job insecurity, a result of increasing unemployed persons and increasing casual/part-time jobs, is exacerbated by a relatively low level of household comfort with emergency cash buffers and, more generally, current savings and investments,'' ME Bank chief executive Jamie McPhee said.
The biggest worry for households was the ''cost of necessities'' like fuel, groceries and utilities followed by the level of savings.
Households are still relatively cautious about their finances and many are avoiding risky investments, risk-avoiders outnumbering risk-takers 37 per cent to 18 per cent.
The report said the level of overall household financial comfort was 5.52 out of 10 in December last year, which was largely unchanged from six months earlier.
