Captains of industry, particularly in Australia are steering leaky boats, a survey has found, with just under half of the new recruits to major sectors leaving within their first year.

A poll tracking the fortunes of 30,000 new workers in the 12 months to October found 46 per cent departed their role before their first anniversary, with hospitality workers, on average, exiting after just eight months.

The survey, from cloud-based workforce management company Deputy, highlights the increasingly flexible nature of the domestic workforce, and the challenge to retain talent.

Among the four sectors polled - hospitality, retail, healthcare and construction - healthcare had the highest rate of retention after a year, at 65 per cent. Next best was retail (59 per cent), followed by hospitality (51 per cent), while the construction industry had the worst retention rate at just 40 per cent.

While Generation Z workers were the most likely to get itchy feet, moving on after just eight months, the average tenure for Baby Boomers was only 20 months despite leading all other age brackets.

Deputy general manager Kristin Harris said the findings weren't necessarily troubling for employers given that some industries, such as hospitality, tended to offer a large number of seasonal jobs. "There tends to be a natural attraction to these industries for younger individuals," Ms Harris said.

Industries such as construction were more likely than others to hire contractors or pay workers by the hour, she said.

With annual wage growth slumping to a new 20-year low of 1.9 per cent this week, workers could also be leapfrogging from job to job in search of a fatter pay packet, Deputy's Ms Harris said.

Across the major cities, Melbourne had the second highest average tenure of 10 months, behind Adelaide at 11 months. Sydney and Perth retained staff for nine months, while the worst was Brisbane, at eight months.