20/09/2012
A recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey on labour mobility released in early September (from data collected in February 2012) puts some hard figures behind the awareness most of us have (at least in Australia) that the concept of a “job for life” has been retired (or perhaps made redundant is a better term?). If 56 per cent of the 11.5 million “active” workers in Australia have held their current role for less than 5 years, and 20 per cent for less than a year, will those who have worked for more than 10 years with the one employer be seen as the wise owls, or indeed the new dinosaurs of the modern workplace?
will those who have worked for more than 10 years with the one employer be seen as the wise owls, or indeed the new dinosaurs of the modern workplace?
Management rhetoric and academia over the past thirty years proclaimed the radical moves towards a flexible labour market with terms like “flexicurity”, “labour fragmentation” and the trend towards more frequent career direction changes replacing traditional job security. Global trends, technology advances, business process outsourcing (and insourcing) overseas to take advantage of less costly labour, and many people pursuing specialist roles to increase their market worth seem to give these arguments credos.
So what is the current reality in Australia and does it reflect these predicted trends from decades past?
Despite the official employment numbers and growth figures of around 77,600 total jobs growth in the year to July 2012, the ABS labour mobility survey suggests that the likely reality is that around 2.3 million people have gained and lost their jobs over that period. Australia has frequently been referred to as a two-speed economy due to the global demand for its resources, yet it seems there are many other sub-speeds depending on the sort of work you are looking for, how much experience you have (or have invested in) and how you were brought up (read Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers). Not surprisingly, workers in the more transitional fields of sales/retail, machinery operations/drivers, and care workers are the most likely to switch jobs with managers and professionals the least likely to change. More surprisingly, however, it seems that shifts between professions is less likely with the majority of labourers (90,000 out of 99,000) and managers (77,000 of 1.4 million) moving to similar roles and only 3% had experienced a major change in their occupation group. Perhaps this is a reflection of the desire and need to specialise to maintain one’s talent value?
Australia has frequently been referred to as a two-speed economy due to the global demand for its resources
So which industries have the highest proportion of “long-timers” of more than 10 years tenure? In the light of the recent rounds of redundancies and voluntary administration activity, it is fascinating to note the stability of tenure within agriculture, education/training, government and manufacturing. Considering the future viability of the automotive industry in Australia, continued funding cuts to the education sector, and the much publicised slashing of state government administration staff for “sustainability”, significant questions for the Australian economy to consider include :
- Where will these people work next if their industries are declining?
- How can they re-skill (especially in light of the cuts to education)?
- What are the costs of redundancy payments and effective outplacement/career transition let alone the hidden (or difficult to quantify) costs of those who remain to take the work within more “efficient” structures with less than the 10 years experience of those who have left?
While the attributes of flexibility, the ability to learn, pick up new concepts and fit into a new work environment quickly are highly valued by many employers, key considerations for leadership and those of us working in the human resources and talent field include:
- How do we attract people with not just quality in the required skills, but also depth of the skill base?
- How do we build a consistent culture strategy and Employee Value Proposition when people do move so often?
- How do we keep this talent engaged and excited to reduce turnover?
The pace of workforce change in Australia, and indeed globally, means that by the time the ABS research was collated and released in September (6 months after it was gathered), the employment landscape is likely to have already shifted.
Please click here to view the full ABS report.