AUSTRALIA - ​ 24 June 2025 — Deputy has today released its annual Shift Pulse Report, revealing a growing emotional divide across Australia’s shift-based workforce. Based on 2.97 million anonymised end-of-shift surveys collected between April 2024 and April 2025, the data exposes how scheduling practices, workplace support, and job structure are shaping the day-to-day well-being of shift workers, for better or worse. The national Net Happiness Score fell from +79.22% in 2024 to +76.26% in 2025 as more workers report feeling emotionally stretched by unstable rosters, underemployment, and lack of autonomy.

“Real-time visibility into how your people are feeling isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a competitive advantage,” said Silvija Martincevic, CEO of Deputy. “When energy, morale, and team cohesion break down, productivity drops, absenteeism rises, customer experience suffers, and profitability declines. That’s why business leaders must take worker sentiment seriously, because the link between wellbeing and performance isn’t just human, it’s commercial."

Key national findings

• The percentage of happy shift workers declined from 83.5% to 82.16%, while the percentage of those feeling stressed or frustrated jumped from 4.28% to 5.9%.
• Call Centres saw the most alarming shift, with unhappy sentiment soaring by 11.1 percentage points — the highest increase of any sector.
• Workers in Tobacco and Vape stores (13.86% unhappy) and Sit Down Restaurants (8.02% unhappy) also ranked among the most emotionally strained.
• The happiest industries include Outpatient Care (91.95%), In-Home Care (87.8%), and Beauty Services (85.47%), roles defined by emotional connection, schedule stability, and autonomy.
• Retail remains the lowest-performing parent industry, with signs of rising scheduling strain despite strong levels of engagement.
• Queensland leads the country in morale, while the ACT ranks last. Nearly 8% of workers finishing their shifts feel unhappy.

What’s behind the burnout?

The growing stress levels across industries are not random; they reflect deep structural realities in how shift-based work is delivered. For example, in sectors like Call Centres, rising customer demand, rigid metrics, and repetitive tasks have collided with minimal flexibility and low schedule control. Workers in these roles often report limited opportunities for rest, peer connection, or emotional recovery, fuelling fatigue and frustration. The spike in unhappy sentiment in Tobacco and Vape Stores is similarly linked to solitary work and lack of support, often in tense or regulated environments.

These are roles that frequently operate with little team interaction or professional development, increasing the risk of emotional detachment and burnout. Even in Sit-Down Restaurants, where social energy is typically high, a combination of staff shortages, weekend shift pressure, and rising customer expectations has pushed stress levels up. Workers are facing longer shifts, higher emotional labour, and reduced downtime, eroding the sense of satisfaction that once defined hospitality.

By contrast, high-performing sectors such as Outpatient Care and In-Home Support offer clear structure, purpose-driven work, and strong continuity of care. Workers in these roles benefit from task clarity, stable hours, and long-term client relationships, all of which reinforce morale and engagement. Similarly, Beauty Services saw the biggest year-on-year improvement in sentiment (+5.44pp), reflecting a strong mix of autonomy, appreciation, and personal connection in day-to-day work.

Poly-employment: A new normal here to stay

The report also reinforces the rise of poly-employment, where workers hold multiple jobs across different employers, as a growing norm, particularly in Retail and Services. Far from being a problem in itself, poly-employment is increasingly a deliberate strategy for financial security and flexibility. However, burnout emerges when that new way of working collides with outdated systems: unpredictable rosters, last-minute shift changes, and a lack of visibility across jobs. Without consistency and control, shift stacking can become overwhelming and not empowering.

Where sentiment is rising and where it’s breaking down

The report reveals sharp regional contrasts in how shift workers are feeling, with some states creating the conditions for high morale, while others are showing signs of strain.

• Queensland leads the country with a Net Happiness Score of 77.79%, outperforming the national average by nearly 3 points. A strong hospitality and healthcare presence, combined with steady rostering and tight-knit teams, are driving positivity.
• The Northern Territory ranks highest for emotional wellbeing overall with the lowest rate of unhappy sentiment (2.75%) in the nation. While its Happy percentage is middle-of-the-pack, the low burnout rate points to calmer working environments and stronger local support systems.
• At the other end of the spectrum, the ACT recorded the lowest Net Happiness Score nationally (70.46%), with 7.77% of shift workers finishing shifts stressed or frustrated. High demand in government-adjacent industries, aged care, and public services appears to be pushing workers to the edge.
• Victoria (72.48%) and Western Australia (72.94%) also trail the national average, with mounting cost-of-living pressures and schedule instability in public-facing roles such as healthcare and cleaning compounding emotional fatigue.

Across every state and industry, the message is consistent: shift-based businesses that invest in schedule stability, team cohesion, and purposeful work see stronger engagement and better outcomes. Deputy’s Shift Pulse data shows that businesses that actively track how their people are feeling and respond in real-time are not only reducing burnout, they’re gaining a commercial edge.

Download a copy of the report below:

About the Shift Pulse Report

Deputy’s Shift Pulse Report measures the sentiment hourly workers across Hospitality, Healthcare, Retail, and Services have towards their work. This is the third instalment of the annual report, which uses insights collected through Deputy’s Shift Pulse feature. The feature helps businesses easily capture continuous feedback from employees who are able to rate how they felt about their shift on a sliding scale, from “stressed” to "amazing". The 2025 Shift Pulse Report is based on an analysis of 2,973,467 Shift Pulse survey responses submitted by shift workers across Australia between April 2024 and April 2025.

About Deputy

Deputy is the world’s leading workforce management platform, revolutionising hourly work for over 1.5 million workers and 380,000 workplaces across over 100 countries. For over 15 years, Deputy has helped businesses to effortlessly navigate and comply with complex labour laws while enhancing employee engagement with predictable, transparent and flexible scheduling, and delivering actionable insights to transform labour efficiency into a competitive advantage. Deputy is more than just a solution – it’s a trusted partner in building workplaces that foster productivity, well-being, and growth. Discover how we are improving the world of work, one shift at a time, at www.deputy.com and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Mat Beeche Global Strategic Communications Director

mbeeche@deputy.com