The great Aussie pay cut: Why workers are ditching corporate jobs

Exclusive: Australian workers are walking away from six-figure salaries and the corporate ladder, trading heavy mental loads for lower-paying, lower-stress lifestyles. 

For Sam Laurie and her husband Jordan, the tipping point came after years of grinding through 60-hour working weeks in Brisbane. 

Sam was working as a credit manager – a role she had spent 15 years building up to – while Jordan was a senior program manager at a major telecommunications company.

Between 90-minute daily commutes and heavy mental loads, the couple barely saw each other. 

"When we were together on weekends... we were too tired to really enjoy spending time with each other," Sam said.

When Jordan found himself facing the latest of a series of redundancies at work, he began looking at alternative options. 

A real estate ad for a caravan park sparked a crazy idea. 

Within five months, the couple had taken the plunge, selling their Brisbane home and buying the Blackall Caravan Park in remote central-west Queensland, a town with a population of just 1300.

While Sam initially kept her job remotely, she also quit her job in May to run the business alongside Jordan. 

Do you have a story? Contact reporter Emily McPherson at EMcPherson@nine.com.au

Although taking over during peak season was overwhelming, the couple says trading corporate status for outback life was the best decision they ever made.

"When I was in corporate, I was well-respected and I was an expert in my field," Sam said. 

"It is a big change going from being a respected professional... to then just starting from scratch, but it’s worth it.”

These days, the couple live in a home right in the middle of the caravan park.

“The office is attached to our home, so it’s really convenient,” Sam said. 

“If we have a break between doing stuff, we’re already at home. We can cook or whatever we need to do, and when the bell rings we just get up and answer it.

“It's such a nice lifestyle. We get to meet different people all the time.” 

From childcare director to dancer 

Stef, a mum-of-two based on the Gold Coast, experienced a similar breaking point.

After eight years in the childcare industry, she had worked her way up to childcare centre director, earning a salary of around $100,000.

However, managing a staff of 60 meant constant crisis management, finding cover for sick workers and endless out-of-hours emails. 

"There were some mornings where I'd drive to the gym and I just wouldn't even make it inside because I'd just be replacing staff and looking at the roster," Stef said.

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Stef realised the constant stress was taking a serious toll on her mental health. 

At the end of last year, she quit her director role to take on contract work as a professional dancer, having previously done similar work before she started a family.

Now booking jobs like TV commercials, Stef works anywhere between 10 and 30 hours a week. 

While stepping away from a secure income was daunting, Stef said the shift had transformed her family life and physical health.

"Not only is my mind in the best shape, my body is too,” she said, adding she now felt like she had more time to be a better mum.

"Honestly, it was probably the best thing I ever did," she said.

Freedom over a six-figure salary

For 31-year-old Sydney project manager Catherine Jia, leaving corporate life meant walking away from a lucrative salary in the six figures. 

Having spent eight years in architecture and construction, Catherine was regularly working 50-hour weeks, leaving her exhausted.

"I was working all the time and then not having the time to work on my creative pursuits," Catherine said. 

"It felt like I was kind of just losing myself working in a corporate job."

In January 2025, Catherine resigned to launch a sustainable fashion label, Mei Mei Market, with a business partner. 

To manage cash flow while building the brand, she recently took on remote freelance project management work for former clients.

Now working around 35 hours a week, Catherine earns around $60,000 - well below half of her former executive income but said the trade-off was worth it.

"I feel like we're not bound to one career path anymore," Catherine said.

"I've decided to compromise for freedom and for my mental health as well."

However, now 18 months in, she admits she doesn’t have all the answers and is still unsure about how to find the right balance.

“I'm still hesitant about whether I've actually picked the right path. Sometimes I do miss the financial stability of a corporate job,” she said.

The pros and pitfalls of a career change

A recent report from Allianz revealed that nearly three million Australian workers may leave their jobs due to mental distress, with six in 10 reporting symptoms of burnout in the past year.

Careers expert Kate Richardson said it was clear that Australian workers were being asked to do more with less.

“There is no doubt that people feel a lot of pressure, and not just at work, but in their broader life, and all of that adds up,” she said. 

“One of the interesting pieces of data that's around at the moment is that there are fewer people that want to become managers

“I think for some people they feel that the reward just isn't worthwhile. 

“The burnout, the stress, the pressure, just outweighs the potential financial return or career success.”

However, it was important for people to pinpoint the key causes of their burnout before making a big career change, she said.

“I think one pitfall can be that people feel that the grass is going to be greener, or they fall in love with the idea of a career, and that doesn't necessarily reflect the reality,” she said. 

“And they may, in effect, be taking on a different kind of stress.” 

A key advantage of leaving corporate for something else was that people could take charge and design their own career around their aspirations for the stage of life they were in, she added.