Paid Work In Australia Essay

1843 Words8 Pages
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 2201 ESSAY 1 Introduction The employment relationship is forever changing and growing due to evolving economic and social dimensions of work. In Australia three major trends have become apparent in paid work and employment. These contemporary trends can be described as part time work, unpaid overtime, and meaningful work. This essay will look at each major trend and describe the impact it is having on paid work and employment. The trends will be described in terms of Australian statistics and findings, and then compared to other parts of the world and their individual findings on the trends. Economic and social dimensions will also be included for a better understanding of the evolution of each trend. Part Time Work Part time work (defined in Australian terms by an employee who usually works 35 hours a week or less) has become an increasingly popular style of work recently in response to changing labour force demographics. Major reasons cited for the increase in part time work since the 1980’s are employer demands for flexibility, increasing female labour force participant rates, more workers choosing part time work to assist with family work life balance, the need to retain skilled workers, and concentration of part time work in industry sectors…show more content…
With Australians giving more and more time to paid work, workers are tending to choose jobs in which they can draw meaning from, whether it be through a sense of efficacy, identity and contribution, the opportunity to learn, social connections through work, or positive spillover from work into the home (Pocock 2009, pp1). While meaning from work varies between people and occupations it can be determined by how level of pay is offset by the pleasure arising from a job (Pocock 2009, pp2). Because of this Australian’s are choosing more often lower paying jobs that result in greater meaning in
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