TERM 2

• Labour force


  All people 15 years and over who are employed or unemployed
• Employed


  Aged 15 or over, have worked for at least one hour in a week, or have a job even though you were not at work in the week, have received pay, income, commission, or payment for some kind of your work
• Unemployed


  Not employed for one hour or more, is actively seeking work, is currently available for work
• Labour participation rate


  [labour force] / [working-age population]
• Unemployment rate


  [unemployed]/[labour force]
• Current unemployment rate in Australia: 3.9%
• Frictional unemployment


  People leaving their jobs and going in search of other jobs
• Cyclical unemployment


  A fall in consumer spending which reduces the demand for workers
• Hard-core unemployment


  Some people cannot keep a job due to personal characteristics
• Seasonal unemployment


  Some jobs change depending on the seasons of the year
• Structural unemployment


  People's skills no longer needed due to changes in technology
• Impacts of unemployment

  • Personal - giving up luxuries, lack of security
  • Economic - slower economy, less movement of cash
  • Social - no money for going out, familial support
• Industry


  A group of businesses involved in similar or related work
• Types of industry

  • Primary - produces raw materials from what nature has provided e.g. mining, agriculture, fishing, logging, extraction
  • Secondary - all workers involved in turning raw materials into finished or semi-finished products e.g. automotive, construction, manufacturing, food processing, crafts
  • Tertiary - providing a service for others e.g. hospitality, retail, healthcare, real estate, education
  • Quaternary - service industries that deal with processing information and knowledge e.g. media, financial services, education, real estate, robotics
  • Quinary - domestic services, many of which were once carried out by people within their own homes e.g. NGOs, nursing homes, fire service, police service, childcare
• In 2020, 3% of people are working in primary industries, 17% in secondary, and 80% of people working in the tertiary industry
• Casual workers


  Make up approx. 20% of the labour force e.g. retail, hospitality
• More women than men work casual jobs
• Casualisation of men


  Unsteady, slow increase
• Female casual jobs


  Slight decrease
• Large, steady increase in part-time employment
• More females employed in part-time than men (almost 30% more)
• Positives of casualisation

  Flexibility for employers and employees
• Negatives of casualisation

  Employees take unpaid leave whenever they want, no guarantee that an employee will work shifts that an employer assigns
• Gender pay gap


  Measures the difference between average earnings of women and men in the workforce
• Since November of 2014, the gender pay gap in Australia has been decreasing steadily
• Factors influencing the gender pay gap

  • Discrimination and bias in hiring and pay decisions
  • Women and men working in different jobs and industries; female-dominated industries are lower-paying
  • Women's disproportionate share of unpaid caring and domestic work
  • Lack of workplace flexibility to accommodate caring and other other responsibilities, especially in senior roles
  • Women's greater time outside of the workforce, impacting career progression and opportunities
• The gender pay gap is the highest in scientific, professional, and technical services at 24.4%, whereas other services are the lowest at 3.6%. The gender pay gap is the lowest in SA and 3 times as high in WA
• Advantages of hiring women

  • Greater gender diversity, boosts economic growth
• Challenges of increased female workers

  • Maternity leave, stereotypes, gender discrimination
• Collaborative culture


  Sharing ideas & skills in the workplace has become the norm
• Learning opportunities


  Instils growth mindset into employees, continual improvements to efficiency & quality of work
• Inclusiveness


  Changing social ideologies leads to greater inclusivity
• Flexible working conditions (hybrid models)


  • Positives: engagement, quality of work, less stress
  • Negatives: trust between management and employees, worse conditions and stigma towards working mothers
• Australia's workforce in 2025, case study: upskilling/reskilling due to change in jobs, adapting to the changing workforce, currently in recession due to Covid, digitisation and automation in Australia is slow currently (investments into technology by businesses have decreased) though some economists predict that this will increase in the future
• Ageing workforce: more workers aged 65 and over are working than before (cost-of-living crisis), implicates less age discrimination and more experienced and mature workers
• Unpaid placement: exploits free work, financial stress for students in unpaid placement
• Superannuation


  A compulsory savings scheme where your employer contributes 11% of your wage or salary into an investment account (superannuation fund)
• Advantages of superannuation


  • A forced saving scheme
  • The money is automatically deducted and invested
  • The value increases over time
  • It allows you to maintain your lifestyle into old age
  • You can change super funds, under certain circumstances
  • You are given the right to select which investment options you prefer
  • Your super fund stays active even when you change employers
• Disadvantages of superannuation


  • Most people have to wait until they are at least 60 before they can access their super funds
  • Super fund investments may lose value over time
  • The government does not guarantee the safety of super funds
  • Administration and management fees are charged by super funds
  • Taxation must be paid on certain lump sum payments
• Tax


  Money paid by individuals and businesses to the federal, state, and local government