A new national survey from the New Zealand Council of Trade Union’s youth network Stand Up shows how young people have been impacted by changed workplace conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey, which was conducted in May and June of this year and released on Wednesday to mark International Youth Day, asked participants about their confidence in their ability to find a new job if they needed to, their well-being and other questions.

The results show that young workers have been significantly impacted by the flow-on effects of the pandemic, with 62 per cent saying their confidence in their ability to find a new job had worsened since the start of the lockdown in March, and 44 per cent saying their well-being had deteriorated.

Those working outside the home during the lockdown were more likely to report that their health and safety at work had worsened. Many respondents felt that young people were wrongly viewed as being bulletproof and were expected to work harder and in higher-risk situations during the lockdown due to the assumption that they wouldn’t be at risk from Covid-19.

“Many of our respondents shared stories of not being taken seriously in the workplace – having their concerns ignored, if they dared to speak up,” Zoë Port, the co-convenor of Stand Up and a researcher at Massey University, said.

“They were scared, but also felt responsible for helping New Zealand through their jobs, and wanted recognition for this essential work.”

Many respondents also reported experiencing aggressive customers, higher work pressure and much longer hours – driven by panic buying – during the national lockdown earlier this year.

These findings are particularly troubling given that Auckland went back into lockdown under alert level 3 on Wednesday.

“With Covid-19 reappearing in the community and a return to higher alert levels, stress is running high. But we can’t forget that at the forefront of this fight are many of our most vulnerable workers,” Port said.

“Old or young, there’s no excuse for abusing workers who are doing their job, helping us, while they’re feeling scared too.”

The survey released on Wednesday is the first in a longitudinal quarterly series that will track young worker confidence levels over time.