The latest Business Characteristics Survey (BCS) conducted by the ABS shed interesting light on what skills are critical to businesses, and short in supply.

Survey participants were asked to list the type of skills used in undertaking core business activities (businesses can identify more than one type of skills). Trades (27%) and financial (26%) skills were most widely used, while scientific and research (4.6%) skills was used the least by businesses.  Read more...

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.  Read more...

The graph below from the latest ABS data highlighted two things:

a) We have come a long way in reducing the pay disparity between men and women. Since Nov 1983, average national weekly earnings almost tripled, increasing from $312.60 to $923.40 in May 2009.

b) We have a long way to go before gender pay equality exists. In May 2009, men earn $1115.80 compared to women who average $733.40.

 Read more...