Age Diversity Report
It is a well documented fact that Australia lags other developed economies in mature age participation rate . According to the ACS age discrimination is rampant in the ICT sector, especially affecting those 45 years and older; worryingly ageism appears to be deeply ingrained in business culture. ACS’s frustration is understandable given the continuing shortage of skills the ICT sector grapples with. The ACS points the blame equally on employers and recruiters, but also offer recommendations on how to address the problem. Download the report here.  Read more...

• Friendship at work: A fascinating look at Zappos’ work culture. Here’s an excerpt:

“ we’ve begun tracking employee relationships. When employees log in to their computers, we ask them to look at a picture of a random employee and then ask them how well they know that person — the options include “say hi in the halls,” “hang out outside of work,” and “we’re going to be long time friends.” We’re starting to keep track of the number and strength of cross-departmental relationships — and we’re planning a class on the topic. My hope is that we can have more employees who plan to be close friends”.  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.

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New research claimed that newspapers, combined with their online websites, are more reputable and effective in influencing the views of consumers than other media channels. The report is a fascinating look at how people consume their news and interact with newspapers (figure 1). It paints a rather glowing picture of the Australian newspaper industry at a time when the sector is struggling for relevance in most developed economies.

So, are print classifieds making a comeback? Not really, but they are not completely dead either.  Read more...