Older Australian workers experience longer periods of underemployment

Despite underemployment generally being more common among younger workers, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on February 23, older workers are much more likely to remain underemployed for one year or more.

The ABS defines underemployment as part-time workers who want, and are available for, more hours of work than they currently have. In September 2009, there were 811,600 underemployed workers in Australia and 61% of those were women.

Almost half of underemployed workers aged 45-54 years and 45% of those aged 55 years and over, had been underemployed for one year or more. By comparison just over one fifth (21%) of 15-19 year olds had experienced insufficient work for the same period.

For those aged 45-54 years, the median duration of the current period of insufficient work was 39 weeks (34 weeks for men and 52 weeks for women) and for those aged 50 and over the median duration was 34 weeks. Overall, the median duration of the current period of insufficient work for underemployed Australian workers was 26 weeks. Read more

Employers will not hire mature workers

Hi There, I always enjoy the AWO magazine and feel it offers intelligent articles for intelligent women,and I thank you.On reading the articles on jobs and vacancies I wanted to make this comment…

The government in its wisdom has raised the retirement age, I am retired already so it does not affect me. However, I have many friends over 60, competent women and men who cannot get jobs! It does not matter what the government says, employers will NOT employ older staff – its just a fact of life!

They will not hire older workers and yet they complain about the young ones not working correctly while they do not even give an older worker the opportunity to work. If older people cannot get work then they may as well have left the retirement age at 60, as those who of that age – and there are 100’s – are surviving on New Start and working 15hrs a week in op shops! They may as well be on a pension and put our employment figures where they should really be.

Submitted by: Barbara-Louisa Walker

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Adjusting to a New Boss

The market is changing, many companies are reassessing headcount and as a result we’ve seen mass redundancies in recent months.

With redundancy comes opportunity, many professionals will secure new work and will need to learn once again how to shine as the ‘new recruit’. James Nicholson, Managing Director of Robert Walters Australia offers some advice on how to survive a new job and inevitably, a new boss.

One of the most exciting challenges in a professional’s career is starting a new job but this can also be a very stressful and demanding time. Professionals must realise that the job will never be exactly as they expected although if you anticipate the challenges ahead, your transition can be much smoother. A new job means new relationships, new ways of doing things and new expectations.

Not only has your workplace changed but so has your boss. Many professionals will say that adjusting to a new boss is the hardest part about starting a new job; others will feel it to be the easiest. In order to ensure your new role starts well, it’s important that you let go of your old boss and accept that your new boss will have new priorities, a new focus and almost certainly, a new way of doing things.

It is important to figure out the communication style of your new boss, find out how they like to work and how they like things done. Be proactive and initiate a meeting with your new boss to discuss how they like to work and then adapt. This will help you get an understanding of what is expected of you and help set clear expectations.

Working under a new boss can be challenging, however it is an experience that should be embraced. Learn everything you can from the experience, try and empathise with the boss’ situation, this will ease the transition for you both. Ultimately it is just as important for you to manage your new boss, as it is for them to manage you. And remember – it’s up to the both of you to make the relationship work.

Robert Walters is a leading global recruitment consultancy, specialising in placing high calibre professionals into permanent, contract and temporary positions at all levels. For more information visit the website www.robertwalters.com.au

Source: Robert Walters

Do you have a Plan B if you lost your job tomorrow?

Everyone needs a Plan B and a healthy mix of pessimism is required when it comes to 21st century employment. For employees and the self-employed, no matter how great you are at what you do, external factors such as we have all seen with the current economic downturn, can make us all vulnerable if we let it.

Too many people make the decision to ignore (or stress about) the situation yet basically just hope it does not happen to them. Nothing is worse than inaction. It offers you no alternatives and no control. So take control and manage your career rather than letting it and other factors manage you. Create your Plan B when times are good; this will help you through both the good times and the bad times.

Having a career risk management strategy, which is essentially what your Plan B is, is nothing different to what you may do in other parts of your life – think of your home, car or health insurance. Last year I watched a TV show on risk that assessed how people react in disasters. Essentially it came down to the fact that those who were more observant of their surrounds had a much higher survival rate. One scenario was building evacuations, where research showed that those who had paid attention to emergency procedures, exit strategies and so on were the ones who were more likely to get out in the event of an incident. Those that did not consciously assess their surrounds were more likely to panic (as they had no plan) and were less likely to leave unharmed. Read more