http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/employment/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/propping-up-car-jobs-wont-save-them-in-the-long-run/ A mate of mine went on a family holiday to China in January. He relayed an interesting item from a local English language newspaper about a new pay deal which had been struck for manufacturing workers in Macau. Under the deal, the workers will be paid AUD $239. Not $239 a day. Not $239 a week. But $239 a month. Factoids such as this are illustrative, and depressingly so, as countries such as Australia grapple with the future of manufacturing jobs. The current discussion about the future of the car industry has been complicated by the high Australian dollar, which is driving up the cost of everything we export. Regardless of whether our dollar was at 70 cents or at parity with the greenback we would still be wrestling with the exact same problems of competition amid the unstoppable forces of globalisation. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/propping-up-car-jobs-wont-save-them-in-the-long-run/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/propping-up-car-jobs-wont-save-them-in-the-long-run/#item7687 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/are-you-being-served-would-you-like-to-be/ Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/are-you-being-served-would-you-like-to-be/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/are-you-being-served-would-you-like-to-be/#item7576 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maybe-women-are-just-bad-at-asking-for-a-higher-salary/ When the annual figures come out on the gender gap in salaries the standard argument is that women earn less because a) they take time off work to have kids, and b) they dominate lower-paid industries such as health and education. While both those points are solid explanations for the gap, new figures that have nothing to do with either (a) or (b) show women graduates are paid less than the men who graduate from the same degrees - 14 per cent less. Graduate Careers Australia found in 2011 graduate males started work on a full-time median salary of $52,000, and women on $50,000 (which could be accounted for by different industries). But in 14 industries male starting salaries were higher than female starting salaries in the same industry. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maybe-women-are-just-bad-at-asking-for-a-higher-salary/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maybe-women-are-just-bad-at-asking-for-a-higher-salary/#item7556 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-need-to-tune-in-turn-off-and-chill-out/ Ah, the holidays. How good is it to relax on the couch to watch the cricket and – hang on, my phone’s beeping. Gee, I’d better respond to some of those work emails. And there are notifications on Twitter. Someone’s tagged a photo on Facebook. Looks like there’s a job offer via LinkedIn. And I should check out who’s on Google+ while I’m at it. Seriously, do we ever turn off anymore? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-need-to-tune-in-turn-off-and-chill-out/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-need-to-tune-in-turn-off-and-chill-out/#item7448 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-give-me-that-tired-old-equal-pay-chestnut/ The tired old chestnut of equal pay gets trotted out every time there are new job figures or the latest batch of income statistics are released. “It’s a deplorable situation,’’ comes the plaintive cry. “Women still only earn X per cent of men’s wages.” Don’t get me wrong, that would be deplorable - if it were true. But sadly it’s much more a case of creative mathematics than a widespread mysogynistic conspiracy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-give-me-that-tired-old-equal-pay-chestnut/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-give-me-that-tired-old-equal-pay-chestnut/#item7323 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-keep-mum-about-being-a-working-parent/ So, at last, and hopefully once and for all, women in the workplace no longer have to regard being a mother as some kind of dirty little secret. Thanks to the frankness of Tanya Plibersek and Julie Collins, the idea that working mothers need to somehow disguise or apologise for their maternal status has been blown to smithereens. I, for one, am rapt. News of this welcome development came in simple form last week; a single-sentence intro on a plain old news story, but one that felt a whole lot like a turning point. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-keep-mum-about-being-a-working-parent/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-keep-mum-about-being-a-working-parent/#item7401 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-heroic-banker-crusading-to-employ-the-disabled/ Sue O’Reilly, who has guest written today’s column on The Angry Cripple is a freelance journalist. She co-founded Australians Mad as Hell last year with Fiona Porter to campaign for an NDIS and established a charity called Fighting Chance to help people with disabilities pay for essential therapy services. Bill Moss was one of the highest paid business executives in Australian corporate history when he worked for Macquarie Bank, prior to his retirement in 2007 on health grounds. As head of the bank’s real estate and banking division, Moss built - literally from scratch - an international real estate and funds management business that spanned five continents, created thousands of jobs and made billions for the bank’s investors, shareholders and, through tax payments, federal Treasury coffers. So really, all Australians are pretty fortunate that the slowly degenerative physical disability with which this razor-sharp businessman was born - a form of muscular dystrophy known as FSHD - happened not to become overly evident (to others at least) until Moss was in his early 40s and had already established his credentials. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-heroic-banker-crusading-to-employ-the-disabled/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-heroic-banker-crusading-to-employ-the-disabled/#item7342 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-kids-are-alright-tony/ Tony Abbott’s claim this week that only the “right kids” should be encouraged to stay in school misunderstands the jobs market, the needs of business and is not in the best interests of our kids. It‘s true that not all young people want or need to go to university and they shouldn’t have to. But gone are the days when young people could finish Year 10 and walk into a job or a trade without qualifications. Our economy has changed and employers increasingly desire higher levels of education and deeper levels of understanding. Think about the skills required by today’s mechanics, electricians and plumbers. Technical, computer and environmental changes mean these sorts of trades have become more complex and require a higher level of vocational skills. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-kids-are-alright-tony/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-kids-are-alright-tony/#item7277 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/having-a-secure-job-is-not-a-luxury/ Sometimes a change creeps up so stealthily that you hardly notice how far it’s gone. That’s how I feel about insecure work, something that used to be restricted to small part of our workforce, but has now spread, like the crown of thorns starfish, to trap millions of Australian workers. Today, the reality is that 40 per cent of Australians are in some kind of insecure work. That’s the combination of people who are casual (which is a quarter of the workforce alone), on short-term or other contracts, and in labour hire, as opposed to the normal definition of permanent jobs – with all the conditions and entitlements that come with them – that were the norm until a few years ago. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/having-a-secure-job-is-not-a-luxury/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/having-a-secure-job-is-not-a-luxury/#item6837 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-green-job-created-is-3.7-jobs-destroyed-elsewhere/ Jobs are being lost, buildings are closing; hundreds of people are moving overseas. Australian manufacturing is facing a major slump, with thousands more jobs expected in light of the carbon tax policy - especially in places like the La Trobe Valley in Victoria. According to recent research from the Australian Trade and Industry Alliance, less than nine per cent of the one million manufacturing workforce are employed by firms that will receive compensation for the carbon tax. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Mark Kenny) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-green-job-created-is-3.7-jobs-destroyed-elsewhere/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-green-job-created-is-3.7-jobs-destroyed-elsewhere/#item6754 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:12 +0000 Articles like this one from the The New York Times explore a facet of life in India that most visitors from the West will surely notice, and anyone that lives here will have to confront to some degree – having servants, or “help”. I still don’t even like writing or saying the word. A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with some kind of privileged-white-person, colonial-style guilt. Perhaps it is just something I am simply not used to, having grown up in a middle-class household in Australia. Whatever reason you want to attach to it, generally speaking I feel uncomfortable with someone serving me unless they are working in a restaurant or a hotel for a decent wage.