On average, one in 3.5 employees had applied for a new job in the past six months, compared with one in seven in November last year.
In Australia, the ratio was one in four compared to one in eight in November last year.
In New Zealand, there had also been a 25% increase in those actively looking for a new job and a 15% lift in those considering a new job, he said.
"It is a staggering jump on job applications and the result of management ignoring their employees while concentrating on restoring company operations in the wake of the financial crisis.
"Employees are looking to jump ship because they feel they have been overlooked.
"They've received no recognition or reassurance about their futures," Mr Goldsmith said while visiting Dunedin.
The people being overlooked were the same people that management asked to accept salary freezes, to work unpaid overtime and change working hours as the financial crisis took hold.
They were being ignored in the upswing so they were discontented and on the move.
Business leaders needed to act quickly to secure good people or face a talent war where they could be forced to pay 25% to 30% salary premiums to find or just keep quality people, he said.
Asked whether employees in smaller cities, like Dunedin, had the same opportunity to shift jobs as those in Auckland and Christchurch, Mr Goldsmith acknowledged there were fewer opportunities in smaller centres.
However, there would be opportunities for the "right person" with transferable skills to shift organisations.
At the top of the list of what determined which employer to work for was whether the organisation invested in learning and development of its staff.
Next came recognising and rewarding staff, operating ethically and fairly at all times and having family and life-friendly workplace practices, he said.
"People looking at an organisation won't endure poor management or an organisation that operates unethically and unfairly.
"People join an organisation for what it can offer. They leave because of poor managers."
Paying above average salaries and bonuses for "excellent performance" was 10th on the list, which indicated workers were more focused on other areas of excellence, rather than just pay, Mr Goldsmith said.
"Workers are volunteers. They volunteer to work for you until something better comes along."
While that could mean employers bearing the high cost of staff turnover, employee restlessness was not driven singularly by money.
Mr Goldsmith was in New Zealand to release the Leadership, Employment and Direction (Lead) survey of 4500 employers and employees across Australia and New Zealand.
New Zealand responses made up 500 survey responses.
The survey showed employees were disillusioned with management's attempts to relieve pressure on work-life balance.
In New Zealand, 41% of respondents thought work-life balance was better than 10 years ago, while 31% felt worse off.
Some 45% believed they would be better off in 10 years while 21% expected to be worse off.
"Employers know work-life balance is a leading influence on workers' performance yet they appear to be paying lip service to it," he said.
