The 2011 Executive Monitor survey has started.

This year we are paying particular importance to the issue of discrimination and diversity in workplaces. We will also measure, one year on, how executives fare in areas like remuneration, education and work. The main brief is to monitor and track the intention of executives for the next twelve months.  Read more...

The RBA revealed new ABS data on employment trends yesterday.

There is no real surprise that the Australian economy is dominated by the services sector (refer chart below). Over a period of one year, sectors like professional service and health care added 60,000 full-time jobs. In contrast, the manufacturing sector shed more than 20,000 jobs in the same period.

Meanwhile, the Australian Industry Group released its latest PMI (Performance of Manufacturing Index) results, which recorded a slight increase in overall employment numbers. However, long-term prospects are not rosy.  Read more...

The second annual Information & Communications Statistical Compendium released by the ACS (Australian Computer Society) reveals interesting new data on the behaviour and status of the ICT workforce.

Two things stood out. Female representation in the workforce is surprisingly high.  23.5% of all ICT trade, technical and professional jobs are performed by women. In some areas like graphics and web design, 50% of the workforce are women. Almost 60% of ICT trainers are women.  Read more...

Depression affects more than 800,000 Australians each year. So, it’s likely to directly or directly touch most of us, including our workplaces. In fact, it is estimated that over 6 million full days of work is lost each year.

It’s RUOK Day today. It’s a day dedicated to address the scourge of mental illness and highlight ways to prevent it. The organisation behind it encourages everyone to reach out to someone else and enquire if they are OK.  Read more...

We have written in length about the disparity between male and female executives in workplaces across Australia (here, here and here).

EOWA (Equal Opportunity for Women Agency) released new data on the status of female executives in workplaces across Australia, specifically senior executives within the ASX 200. It’s not pretty.

Women continues to be denied top jobs. Only 8.4 % of board positions and key Management positions are held by women. And there are only six women leading the top 200 Australian companies. We are also behind other developed nations in terms of female representation in the workforce.  Read more...

An estimated 400,000 to 2 million Australians experience bullying at work and it costs businesses an estimated $3 billion per year. We asked Harriet Stacey from Wise Workplace Investigations if potential bullies can be identified early in the recruitment process.

Recognised as an international problem, bullying has a major cost for Australian employers. Measurable costs such as those incurred from law suites and payouts and hidden cost from absenteeism, sick leave and high staff turnover. It is estimated that bullying by employees costs Australian business an estimated $3 billion per year .  Read more...

Julia Gillard’s ascension to the top job in the country has been hailed as a momentous achievement for Australian women. Whatever political persuasion you subscribe to, it’s hard to argue against the symbolism Julia Gillard’s rise represent (at least in the workplace) – that women are men’s equal, are as capable and ought to be rewarded accordingly.

Yet, the reality is a wide gap in pay continue to exist in workplaces across Australia. In fact, the gap between men and women has widen further since 2009. Here’s the latest data from the Equal Pay Day website:   Read more...

Here are five reports well worth a look.

Flexible Workplace
Rubicor’s report on flexible work arrangement in Australian workplaces uncovered surprising insights. The vast majority (86%) of organisations have some form of flexible workplace initiatives in place, yet 57% do not promote the benefits effectively to job seekers.  Employers faltered at selling their EVP effectively.

 Read more...

It’s a well documented fact that male employees tend to earn more than their female counterparts. Why this anomaly still occurs in 21st century workplaces is a  mystery.

Some interesting results on male and female pay disparity is emerging from the recent study we conducted on high-income executives in Australia. Interestingly, male executives tend to get a pay rise as a result of good performance, while female executives are more likely to get a raise if they change employers or move from one department to another.  Read more...

Thought for the week
“Recession or no recession, corporate and IT leaders continue to see a key role for IT, especially in regard to capturing efficiencies across the enterprise. Many expect IT investments to grow soon.”  – McKinsey Global Survey

Labour Market Data
Effective recruitment planning is hard without data. Here’s the latest labour data from the ABS.  Read more...

A new fascinating study by the Centre for Work + Life (University of South Australia) sheds light on the link between home, work and community. The study is a comprehensive (four separate reports) look at how decisions about work are influenced by what happens at home and the wider community. As Dr Pip Williams, Project manager of the report, says: “Planning decisions about work and housing cannot be expressed independently of each other.”

Some interesting tidbits from the study:  Read more...

Average job tenure is seven years in Australia, easily the lowest amongst developed economies.

Why is this so?

The author of a new report – Australia at Work – highlighted various likely factors, but honed in one factor:  Read more...

Go Home
Today is ‘Go Home On Time Day’, a brainchild of Australia Institute which recently conducted a comprehensive study on overtime work in Australia. Are you leaving office early today?.

Academia Blues
Melissa Gregg thinks that academia is no longer a smart choice.

JobDash
Jobdash, a career management tool for IT professionals, is already capitalising on Linkedin’s new API announcement.  Jobdash can be used to  ‘track and Filter real-time Employment Offers from Twitter and LinkedIn status updates’. Our world is rapidly changing.  Read more...

A new research by Australia Institute revealed the nature and extent of overtime work in Australia.

Some of the highlights of the research:  Read more...

• A typical full-time employee works 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day, amounting to 2.14 billion hours annually and gifting $72 billion to employers.
• Full-time employees work more unpaid overtime then anyone else (table 2)
• 50% of white-collared workers experienced unpaid overtime, compared to 24.2% for blue collared workers. (table 2)

It’s common knowledge that workplace disengagement is rife in organisations across Australia. What can an employer do?

Gallup recommends employees be asked 12 questions, as follows:   Read more...

• Do you know what is expected of you at work?
• Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
• At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?