Shortest Amount Time in a Job 3AW 693AM Radio Melbourne with Tony Moclair
Topic: Shortest Amount of Time in a Job
Date: 24 June 2025
Media Outlet: 3AW 693AM Melbourne https://www.3aw.com.au
Broadcaster / Interviewer: Tony Moclair
Producer: Joseph Campbell
Duration: 00:10:05
Time of show: 12:11pm
Audio Recording:
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuOqI1OsUAA
Transcript
Now, according to a new study by intelligent.com, Generation Z or Z is struggling to make the smooth transition from school to the workforce.
The study surveyed nearly 1000 business leaders and showed that 60% of employers have already fired young graduates this year, with one in seven considering not hiring them in the next year. If you want to know who Gen Z is, well, let me give you some facts about them.
The most populous generation on the planet at the moment.
They are digital natives. They are ethnically diverse.
They are ambitious, entrepreneurial in spirit, financially savvy, committed to ethical consumption and a strong sense of social responsibility.
Work is more than just a pay check.
And what came out of this survey, was many of them would prioritise work life balance over money.
They need that day off every fortnight rather than putting the nose to the grindstone and just accumulating wealth in their most productive years.
Very interesting defence of them if you like.
And I don’t mean this to be attack an attack on Gen Zeds, I really don’t but, and I’ll get to my point in a moment, but in terms of the defence of Gen Z’s, a woman named Jessica Kriegel, who’s a workforce strategy leader at Culture Partners, points out that stereotypes are common for every generation.
That is true.
And she says most of these generalisations are embedded in the culture, and the torch of criticism is passed every 20 years, which is so true.
So 133693, we’re finding out that Gen Z, as I said, struggling to make the smooth transition from the school to the workforce.
I think they have been impacted to a much greater degree by COVID than older generations were, and I think we ignore that at our peril.
I think it was a defining moment of of their generation and I don’t think it’s been properly processed, but it does lead me to ask you this question 133693 What is the shortest amount of time you spent in one job?
The shortest.
Were you fired?
Did you quit?
Was it months?
Is it days?
Is it hours?
In my case, weeks.
I was host of a TV show on Channel 7 for two glorious weeks.
I was co-host, so the show got axed after two weeks.
So that’s my, I think my record.
There would be other jobs.
I did maybe a week here and there.
But I want to know if I want to know if you can beat that.
Woody, who works on this programme, he’s one of the producers.
He revealed in a pre show meeting this morning that he was once fired from a charcoal chicken shop after 48 hours.
He had climbed the greasy pole to the top of the charcoal chicken industry in Rowville, fighting off many rivals for the privilege and you could imagine that he had certainly his choice of the ladies in that suburb having risen to a status full position as an employee of a charcoal chicken joint, but after 48 hours he was sent packing with not so much as Minimum Chips to say thanks for his service.
I want to know if you can beat that 133693.
The shortest amount of time you have spent in a job.
Sue Ellson is a career expert.
She joins me now.
Good afternoon Sue.
Hi Tony.
To my point, I mean, I’m I’m just putting that out there certainly and what I’ve seen in my own children.
But how big, how defining was COVID on Generation Z and has it formed an expectation when they go to the workplace?
I mean, are they privileging life above the grind?
Yeah, well, look, it’s a very complex question.
You probably need to speak to a health policy professional to get the real insights.
But some of the things I’ve noticed is a lot of that particular generation feel uncomfortable talking in person to people.
Okay.
They don’t like making telephone calls.
They prefer to send text messages.
So with them being digital natives, there’s an awful lot of things they do electronically.
And I suspect a lot of employers are being inundated with AI generated resumes, key selection criteria answers and all that sort of thing as well.
And then some of those traditional recruitment processes that would have involved looking at the whole person. Mmm.
May be getting missed.
So as an example, let’s say you want to have somebody in customer service front facing at the local charcoal chicken shop and their favourite past time is computer games.
Mmm.
Well, you know, I don’t think that’s necessarily going to be a good segue into that type of role.
You’ve just described my son.
Anyway, he is managing to hold down a job.
Great.
Which is, which is good, but I think he’s conscious of his phone use.
It is public facing.
Yes.
So is it also, and I’m not sure, but this is certainly a stereotype, that they don’t view the relationship between themselves and their employer as hierarchical or vertical.
It’s a lot more horizontal.
It’s like, you’re lucky to have me, here are my preconditions for the job and we’ll take it from there.
Or is that another stereotype?
Well, it could be a stereotype, but if you think about it.
When we started work, we didn’t have access to the Internet.
No.
So we couldn’t look up an answer immediately and get a result.
So we had to rely on the other professionals we were working with to, you know, get the insights and the intel and so on.
And a lot of that particular generation have got side hustles and little businesses.
Mmm.
They’re starting up themselves.
And I think what probably needs to change is the leadership of the organisations.
Needs to adjust to the capabilities of these candidates because you know in the right environment they can be fantastic but also if we again go back to that recruitment process when I was recruiting grads for Westpac, you know way back in the early 90s.
Mmm.
We actually said that somebody coming out of formal education now whether that just be a Diploma through TAFE or you know formal university studies, it would take us about 18 months to get them to be a useful employee and I was an employee who worked full time.
Mmm.
And studied part time.
Now of the current number of 15 to 20 year olds, only 6% according to the ABS data are now working full time and studying part time.
So the shift has gone from we study first and we work part time and in those part time roles, you know, you swan in for three hours.
Mmm.
And you don’t really develop that tenacity to stay, you know, 8 hours a full day’s work and so on.
Mmm.
But also, you know, previous generations had to leave home, get a flat, pay the rent and if you’re still living at home with your parents and you don’t pay board which my children didn’t, then you know you can juggle work life balance a little bit better because you haven’t got bills to pay.
Yeah.
That requirement to earn the money just to keep going.
133693 133693 What is the shortest amount of time you have spent in a job?
And in relation to that Sue, this figure here, 60% of employees have already fired young graduates this year.
You mentioned 18 months to kind of bring somebody up to speed.
Mmm.
And make them, I don’t want to say useful, but let’s say to make them competent in the workplace.
Yep.
It seems to me like employers are the one with the short attention spans now.
Correct.
Or are not necessarily forgiving.
Why would that be?
Well, I, when I was doing recruitment, I had to attend a 2 day course and you know, had to pass the tests and so on. Yeah.
Before I was allowed to select anybody.
Whereas now people say, oh, gut feel, you know, I know what I’m doing.
And then another sort of policy that’s come in is an open hiring policy where you say, all right, can you do ABC and D?
And if you can, if your applicant #1, you will be First off the rank.
Mmm.
And applicant #2 will be Second cab off the rank.
But what they don’t tell you in that fabulous open hiring policy is they sack them quickly too.
Aah.
So you know, this is there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors going on nowadays.
And then there’s the online assessments.
So if you’ve got an online assessment process and you’re competent at filling that out, you might get a gig.
And if you’re not competent at it, you won’t get a gig.
And I battle tested an online recruitment service at the end of last year just to see how it would go, being somebody with lots of digital skills.
Mmm.
I should be able to shoe this in.
Yeah.
And I, I helped a 29 year old do it.
They got work within three days.
And here I am six months later and I still don’t have one gig out of the platform.
Gees.
So, you know, this is, there’s, there’s lots of disparity in all of these systems for older people, for younger people.
And I can understand why when they get into a place, they say, Oh my goodness, this is not for me.
Because again, maybe even the candidate hasn’t done the right research and I remember meeting a bus driver, a bus replacement from Bendigo to Melbourne and this bus driver said I knew I was really shy so I chose to become a bus driver so I would start talking to people.
Ah.
So I think if we can help these COVID affected young people understand, you know, what they might have missed or what extra skills they might need and we can help them with that kind of stuff.
Mmm.
That could make a big difference.
We’ll see if it does.
Sue Ellson, career expert, thank you for your time this afternoon.
You’re welcome Tony
133693 133693.
Social Share
SHORTEST JOB // What is the shortest amount of time you have spent in a job? In a survey from Intelligent.com of 1,000 business leaders, 60% of employers have already fired young graduates this year, with one in seven considering not hiring them in the next year. I discussed this topic with Tony Moclair on 3AW 693AM Radio Melbourne and we explored:
✅ definition of Generation Z – digital natives
✅ impact of COVID on these 13-28 year olds
✅ current job search trends
✅ recruitment practices
✅ time poor employers
✅ leadership of younger workers
✅ less young people working full time and studying part time
✅ more young people staying home for longer
Enjoy the show online at https://sueellson.com/blog/shortest-amount-of-time-in-a-job-3aw-693am-radio-melbourne-with-tony-moclair
This link also includes further information you may find helpful.
Thanks to Producer Joseph Campbell for reaching out!
➡️ Are you from Generation Z and do you have a comment to make about current job search and recruitment practices?
➡️ Do you work with Generation Z and what strategies help them in the workplace?
I would love to continue this discussion and hear your perspectives.
#3awmelbourne #generationz #youthemployment #careers #sueellson #tonymoclair
Further information
1 in 6 Companies Are Hesitant To Hire Recent College Graduates
https://www.intelligent.com/1-in-6-companies-are-hesitant-to-hire-recent-college-graduates
Generation Z young people are getting fired from their jobs quickly, according to a study of 1,000 business leaders
https://www.decaturmetro.com/generation-z-young-people-are-getting-fired-from-their-jobs-quickly-according-to-a-study-of-1000-business-leaders
Bosses are firing Gen Z grads just months after hiring them—here’s what they say needs to change
https://fortune.com/article/why-are-companies-firing-gen-z-employees-workplace-bosses-workers-jobs
Education and Work, Australia – Australian Bureau of Statistics
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/education-and-work-australia/latest-release
Tough Love For Unemployed Job Seekers Under 30 Years Of Age
https://sueellson.com/blog/tough-love-for-unemployed-job-seekers-under-30-years-of-age
Multiple Job Search Strategies That Will Work
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/multiple-job-search-strategies-work-sue-ellson
Podcast Recording of the Show – starts at 00:03:20 – 00:13:25
https://omny.fm/shows/3aw-afternoons/full-show-3aw-afternoons-with-tony-moclair-24-june-2025
Apple Podcast Full Show
https://podcasts.apple.com/ro/podcast/full-show-3aw-afternoons-with-tony-moclair-24-june-2025/id1514340495?i=1000714304671
Spotify Full Show
https://open.spotify.com/episode/09zIt6fD34bXRAh00JPtyc
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