When Debra Kightley lost a well-paid role in human resources in 2015, she lost more than just a job.

"Just losing, I think, that sense of being who you are," the 52-year-old said.

She's been picking up temporary work ever since.

Debra Kightley was made redundant in 2015. ( Supplied )

"You become a bit anonymous out there — a faceless person in the crowd, and you have to deal with that."

It's hit her confidence hard, not just personally and professionally, but also economically.

"I'm far off retiring, and just to have some security there, and maybe pump up my super where I've lost that opportunity — yeah I might save a little bit of that and spend it on something," she says.

Ms Kightley says that landing a secure, on-going role would give her confidence to spend more money.

But in the meantime, as job insecurity remains widespread, there's the risk that shoppers like Ms Kightley will spend even less as the cost of living rises.

And that's bad news for the Australian economy.

'Their job doesn't exist anymore'

Many Australians have been painfully aware for some time now that the idea of a "job for life", and the security that comes with that, has long gone.

But now career counsellors are warning that anxiety resulting from widespread job insecurity is reaching alarming levels and it has the potential to further harm the economy.

Linda Jeffrey is a member of the National Executive Committee for the Career Development Association of Australia or CDAA.

She says retrenchments are rising and redundancy is now "common".

Figures from the Bureau of Statistics support that claim.

The data, published in 2017, for example, show 187,000 Australian positions were made redundant. Fast forward to this year, and the number jumps to 272,500.

That's a 45 per cent increase.

The government points to its record on job creation, and by any measure, it's impressive.

The most recent employment data from the ABS shows that employment in Australia had a net increase of 310,700 over the year to August 2019 to a record high of 12,926,000. The participation rate is also at a record high of 66.2 per cent.

However, the CDAA deals with workers everyday who need help finding a new job. Ms Jeffrey says the organisation has seen a spike in job candidates coming through its doors.

The reason for the increase in workers seeking counselling is that job seekers are confused about what to do next following a redundancy.

That, Ms Jeffrey says, is a new phenomenon.

"[Previously] they might have had to look for another job, but they didn't have to think about changing the job they were looking for because the one they had done previously either doesn't exist anymore, or is likely not to exist in the near future," Ms Jeffrey says.

While the obvious course of action for many job candidates is to re-train, or pay for a course to help develop new skills, the current relatively high cost of living is making that a practical impossibility.

The security of a job for life has long gone. ( ABC News: Sarah Collard )

Consumer anxiety is on the rise

All of this goes to the heart of Australia's current economic conundrum.

You see the economy doesn't necessarily need more jobs, it also desperately needs existing jobs to offer more security and opportunities to progress.

There are currently hundreds of thousands of Australians who have either just been retrenched — or are actively looking for a more secure, full-time-ongoing role.

The rise of the gig economy means many workers take on small odd-jobs as they need, but many of these jobs often come with uncertain hours and conditions.

It's these Australians, economists say, are holding back on their spending, and that's hurting the economy.

Why? Well because they're anxious about their financial future.

The National Australia Bank measures stress levels around this in its quarterly Consumer Anxiety Survey.

NAB's Consumer Anxiety Index. ( NAB )

In the three months to September, anxiety relating to cost of living rose 2.3 points to 64.7 points.

It's the single biggest driver of overall consumer anxiety with roughly a quarter of respondents rating their anxiety over living costs as "very high".

NAB's chief economist Alan Oster says that comes through in those who work part-time, want to work more hours or who have lost a job.

"You know we have a scale, and job security is not at the top of it, but it is moving up, Mr Oster says,

"Everything we look at says (that) if people are worried about their employment, and their ability to maintain that employment, that causes them more grief," he says.

"What would help a lot would be to feel more secure in your job, and to have more cash."

Australians watching every penny

Sandy Rourke is in a similar position to Ms Kightley — and thousands of other Australians.

Ms Rourke is still looking for an ongoing position more than a year after she lost a full-time role with the NSW Government in ageing, disability and home care.

Sandy Rourke, 55, is looking for an ongoing position. ( Supplied )

The 55-year-old says she's now watching every penny.

"Whereas before I used to go and do a weekly food shop, I probably haven't done that huge big once-a-week food shop in a year-and-a-half — I just go and buy little bits of what we need, which is different to before."

"When I buy things for [my son] James I find things on sale on the internet. But again, I have to think about whether to buy it or not.

"I've never had to do that in my life ever before... I do now," Ms Rourke says.