Employment

Analysis and Comment (28)

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Millions of workers struggle on the emerging periphery while those at the core enjoy the benefits of stability and skills. Shutterstock

Life on edge as new divide ignored

By Brian Howe, University of Melbourne

The Fair Work Commission’s recent wage review may have struck an increased pay deal for low-paid workers but its decision overlooks the growth of a worrying new divide in the Australian workforce. With…
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Human resource managers will often shy away from hiring overqualified employees, but research shows that they can be an asset. Shutterstock

Survive or thrive? Overqualified a matter of management

By Aleksandra Luksyte, University of Western Australia

Overqualified workers are often seen as the pariah of human resources but these employees can be a constructive or a destructive influence on your business, depending on the way they are managed. In my…
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Victims of domestic violence can suffer at work as well as at home. AAP/Angela Brkic

Domestic violence now at home in the Fair Work Act

By Inara Walden and Ludo McFerran

As global attention has focused this week on the issue of violence against women via the One Billion Rising movement, Australia is at the forefront of a wholly new approach to dealing with the impacts…
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Recent arguments suggesting the size of the political debate around the Tasmanian forestry industry is disproportionate to its economic importance is misleading. AAP

Still here: why Tasmanian forest industry job figures are misleading

By Jacki Schirmer, University of Canberra

The Australia Institute (TAI) has recently used Census data to claim that the Tasmanian forest industry employs only 975 workers. Based on this, they argued that the size of the political debate about…
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Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin and Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon discuss the Closing The Gap report in June. AAP/ Penny Bradfield

Closing the gap on Indigenous employment? Not quite

By Nicholas Biddle

It almost goes without saying, but stable, well-paid employment remains one of the key ways to protect people from poverty and exclusion. And that’s never truer than for our Indigenous population. Aside…
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Australia’s boom investment conditions will begin tailing off by 2014, according to a Deloitte Access Economics report – so what does this mean for current labour shortages?

No boom without bust: a cautionary note about mining and employment

By Michael Barry, Griffith University

Much public discussion around the current mining boom focuses on the lack of qualified staff to fill an expanding employment market. But yesterday’s report by Deloitte Access Economics warning that the…
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Equal pay is not the only obstacle women face in the labour market: there’s also higher unemployment, underemployment, and heightened risk of job insecurity. Victor

Mind the gap, but there’s more to gender equality than pay parity

By Veronica Sheen, Monash University

The quest for equal pay between men and women represents one of the oldest battle lines for feminism. The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) finds that women’s wages are now 17…
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Indigenous community jobs aren’t part of the mainstream economy, but they fit the needs of the community well. Kayt Davies

Closing the gap, or making it wider? Putting a value on Indigenous jobs

By Kayt Davies

Among all the school payments and defence cuts, last week’s federal budget also quietly committed an additional $5.2 billion to the government’s Closing the Gap program. It’s a vote of faith from the government…
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Discrimination on the basis of irrelevant criminal records is rife in Australia. Flickr/Waponi

Unfair punishment: when criminal record checks lead to discrimination

By James Farrell, Deakin University

Applying for a job is stressful enough, but if you have a criminal record, even if it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for, it can be a nightmare. Employers in Australia regularly discriminate…
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The Federal Government has fast-tracked applications by skilled US workers to fill trades gaps in Australia, citing the close relationship between the countries. But motives of employers pushing the scheme should examined critically. AAP

US workers get the nod … but what does this mean for the local workforce?

By Michael Barry, Griffith University

The Federal Government recently announced that it would use the 457 visa skilled migration program to fast-track the number of skilled workers applying from the United States. In defending this move…
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Their jobs may not be as glamorous as digging up ore or building cars, but public servants' work on protecting Australia from climate change is even more important. Natural Step Online

Climate change isn’t over yet, so why are we cutting climate change jobs?

By Robin Tennant-Wood, University of Canberra

Yesterday’s announcement that one-third of jobs in the Department of Climate Change will be cut is yet another step back in the ALP’s half-hearted dance with climate change policy. Former Prime Minister…
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Developing smaller urban areas may mean better employment and living conditions for migrant workers. AFP

Why China’s mega-cities leave their citizens struggling

By Beatriz Carrillo Garcia

SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE: The world’s seven billionth person is likely to be born today. Beatriz Carrillo Garcia, lecturer in China Studies at the University of Sydney looks at effect a growing population…
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There are health benefits for indigenous Australians when they live in smaller homeland communities. Flickr/Rusty Stewart

Homeland communities destroyed to save a bit of cash

By Jon Altman

Government efforts to “close the gap” between indigenous and white Australians ignore the needs of nearly 1000 homeland communities on the Indigenous estate. Australian citizens living at the most remote…
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People naturally develop relationships, so is it possible to eliminate bias in professional settings? gonzalo_ar

Accountants are humans too – the problem of ‘attachment bias’

By Colin Ferguson, University of Melbourne and Jane Hronsky, University of Melbourne

Media commentators, regulators, and the judiciary continually express their concerns over the independence of auditors and other accounting professionals when they prepare expert reports. Typically, this…
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Today’s students have unrealistic expectations of what university and the workforce requires of them. flickr/Banksy

Gen Y can’t I have everything I want … and now!

By Ken Coates, University of Waterloo

Every adult generation in history has worried about the young people following in their wake. Youth have almost always been found wanting, seemingly lacking the attributes and qualities necessary for…
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Job seekers always want to show their best side, so personality testing can be complicated. Vermin Inc

The right person for the job? Weeding out personality-test fakers isn’t easy

By Carolyn MacCann; Matthias Ziegler, Humboldt University of Berlin, and Richard Roberts, Educational Testing Service

Most people have taken an online or magazine quiz promising to reveal information about their true personality, interests, or attitudes. These tests can be harmless fun. But there is a serious side to…
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Tony Abbott has tough decisions to make on workplace reform before the next election. AAP

A return to WorkChoices: Why is business trying to hammer it home?

By Peter Gahan, University of Melbourne

In one of the most significant moments of the 2010 federal election campaign, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott declared the Coalition’s unpopular WorkChoices policy “dead, buried, cremated.” In an interview…
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The peace package will have to work hard to bring forestry workers into the modern economy. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Can Tasmania’s forest deal secure ‘peace’ for workers?

By Jacki Schirmer, University of Canberra

The recently announced $276 million Tasmanian forest agreement agreement sets out to end the war between loggers and conservationists. But the war has been bitter, and forest industry workers have often…
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Universities need to remember why they research: to advance knowledge. Flickr/Gates Foundation

Forget profits. Universities need morals.

By Nick Evans

Steven Schwartz, vice-chancellor of Macquarie University, recently claimed that universities should break from being treated as businesses and recapture their moral purpose. He used the example of Jonas…
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The Labor government has shied away from making substantial changes in industrial relations law. AAP/Patrick Hamilton

Fair work? It’s all about political spin in industrial relations

By Jill Murray, La Trobe University

Peter Reith’s spectacular re-emergence into Australian politics has enlivened the so-called “IR” debate. His intervention has called forth a flood of commentary, from Tony Abbott (who now supports “practical…
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Back in the day…. the electorate rejected labour market reform the first time, so why push for a return? AAP

Let’s resist these efforts to bring back labour market reform

By Jeff Borland, University of Melbourne

When it comes to improving living standards in Australia today, labour market reform is not a first-order issue. Achieving better health and social outcomes for the Indigenous population – yes. Increasing…
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Workers will see a percentage increase in their pay packet from today. AAP/Greg Wood

Explainer: What the new minimum wage really means for workers

By Anthony O'Donnell, La Trobe University

Fair Work Australia’s annual wage determination takes effect today. Importantly, we’re set to see award wages rise not by a single dollar sum, as in the past, but by 3.4%. This goes someway to addressing…
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FairWork Australia’s decision will allow young workers more flexibility. AAP

The after-school job is the comeback kid

By Mark Wooden, University of Melbourne

Fair Work Australia’s decision to relax the minimum shift requirement for school kids from three hours to 90 minutes has been praised by employer groups and criticised by unions, who fear low-paid teens…

Research and News (1)

Research Briefs (2)

Gay men get fewer job interviews

Harvard University

Gay men are 40% less likely to be offered a job interview than their straight counterparts in some parts of the United States…

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