Editorial: In the wrong jobs

The first question is how people end up in jobs, or indeed entire industries, they want to get out of.

The new year (is it just me or is 2015 already flying by?) is often a time when people take stock, whether that be reassessing their relationships, health or careers.

So it was interesting to see a recently released Seek survey claim 76 per cent of Kiwis are actively seeking a new job or monitoring the job market. And two-thirds say they want to work in a completely different industry.

Although the survey was of just 2800 people, that still seems an extremely high proportion of unhappy or unsettled workers.

For some, "a job's a job". As long as it's steady and puts food on the table, they are not too worried. Plus we must keep in mind there are plenty of people who can't find a job and would love to take the roles those in them sometimes moan about.

But Seek has calculated people spend on average 13 years of their life at work. That could mean 13 years of wishing you were somewhere else, counting down the hours until knocking off time, and dreading Sunday nights (presuming you are not working the weekend as well).

The first question is how people end up in jobs, or indeed entire industries, they want to get out of. Is it that many get into a job straight from school or university, when they don't actually have a clue what they actually want to do with their lives? Or they are not sufficiently qualified to get the dream job?

The second question is why so many people don't do anything about it. Having been one of those unhappy workers who took the plunge and changed careers, I know it can be scary. But the satisfaction of being happy in your work - with no need to look wistfully at the classifieds - is well worth it.

Or perhaps people are just restless because they would rather be at the beach than behind a desk. On days like those we've been having lately, I can understand the appeal of being a lady of leisure. Right, I'm off to buy my Lotto ticket.