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: 

1. Full-time working women are earning 18% less than men.
2. The pay gap is higher in the private sector (21.7%) than in the public sector (12.1%)
3. The average superannuation payout to a woman is projected to be $150,000, that’s half of the average payout to a man in 2010-11
4. If things don’t change, the average 25 year old male will earn $2.4Million over the next forty years; for the average 25 year old female, that figure is just $1.5Million

It always puzzles me why there is still such a wide pay disparity between men and women in this day and age. At my old workplace Greythorn, where women outnumbered men roughly by a ratio of 3:1, there was no sniff of any disparity. In fact, my recollection is female staff (consultants) earn more than their male counterparts, for the simple reason they generate more revenue. Remuneration was largely dictated by merit, as it should be. Perhaps, the recruitment industry is an exception.

So why do you think women continues to get a raw deal? What is the situation in your organisation?

Consider these disturbing findings from the latest APESMA’s survey of its female members (58.6% had tertiary qualifications in science and 30.0% in engineering):

1. Nearly 40% of respondents stated that they had been bullied and 38% discriminated against in the course of their employment.
2. Nearly 20% reported that they had been sexually harassed, although only one fifth of those had reported the incident through official channels.
3. Nearly 70% of respondents said that taking maternity/parental leave – including unpaid leave – was likely to be detrimental to their career, despite legally having access to these provisions.
4. 47.4% of respondents said that their career progression had been affected by workplace culture.
5. And nearly one quarter of respondents expected that they would leave their profession within five years.

It just beggars belief that in this day and age women still get a very raw deal in workplaces. What is the point in recruiting talented people when workplaces cannot be fair? Inequity  doesn’t make business sense when the country is grappling will an ageing population and skills shortage.

Read the whole report, titled ‘Women in the professions: The state of play 2009-10, here.

Every year 18% of the Australian workforce started work with a new employer. New data released by the ABS reconfirmed that we are a nation of job hoppers. Almost one in six or 1,972,300 of the workforce has been with a company/business for less than 12 months.

Here’s how the distribution looks:

Employment tenure is even lesser with high-income earners. Our survey revealed that executives on average worked for almost eight employers during their lifetime; and the vast majority (25%) have worked for their current employer for less than a year.

Here’s a comparison of executive and the national average:

The fact is employment tenure is getting shorter, and all signs are suggesting it will continue to get shorter. Which means that recruiters will have to be eternally vigilant. Which in turn underscores the important of having robust processes, a talent pipeline and a recruitment strategy.

Recruiters will be called upon to deliver with increasing regularity.

Part of the reasons why agency recruiters continuously deliver result is because they start looking again immediately after a talent is found (placement made). Maintaining a fluid talent pipeline comes with the territory and gives them the edge over their corporate siblings.

Perhaps, the best time to start looking for talent is the day a new hire is made. That type of advance planning and thinking will insulate an organisation from risks associated with the vagaries of employee mobility and spiralling recruitment budgets.

Sylvia Hewlett, Founding President of Centre for Work-Life Policy, on what the new generation of workers want from employers:

I think jazz is the right metaphor. It’s freedom within form. Our new demographic research coming out in July really shows that what Gen Y wants, and is actually what boomers want too, is actually to stay with an employer/company that they had admire. But to mix and match, to ebb and flow, to have much more of freedom within form, and to have a long view.

One of the biggest yearnings of these two juggernaut generations…what they want within the context of loyal attachment to an employer and intense periods of work is odyssey. The ability to search and quest for meaning, to maybe work for six weeks in Africa, and then absolutely get down to work back on the ranch again.

Also check -  what Motivates Gen Y & Boomer Talent (Harvard Business Review)

Jason Fried reminds us how much our workplaces are optimised for interruptions.

Consider these numbers – According to Gloria Mark, the average knowledge worker switches tasks every three minutes, and, once distracted, a worker takes nearly a half-hour to resume the original task. And according to Basex, interruptions and the requisite recovery time now consume 28 percent of a worker’s day.

How are you coping?