News.com.au
'One job, one desk - those days are over'
Wed February 22, 2012 8:09pm
TEMPORARY roles are set to become a major part of the Australian workforce over the coming decades despite a third of those surveyed being unsatisfied with the arrangement, a conference has heard.
BT Financial Group chief economist Chris Caton said the skills shortage caused by the nation’s ageing population would mean business and unions would need to adapt to offer more contract roles in the future. “If an employer is reluctant to hire due to global economic uncertainty, there’s a strong case for the use of temporary employment,” Dr Caton said.
“Long term - as the working age participation falls, labour will become increasingly scarce and you will have to have a multi-faceted approach as a country and as an employer if you’re going to do something about that.”
Dr Caton was speaking at the launch of a recruiting report in Sydney this morning which found temporary labour grew by 4 per cent to 428,000 jobs in 2010/2011 compared to 2.9 per cent growth for total employment over the same period.
According to the report from the Adecco Group’s second edition of the Temporary Labour Report, these roles are expected to continue growing by 2.4 per cent in 2012, compared to 1.3 per cent for total employment.
Recent employment figures released by Roy Morgan also showed that underemployment - workers who are not in a full time job but want to be in one - is a growing concern in Australia with many part-time workers not satisfied and needing more work to support their lifestyle.
The Adecco report revealed that only two-thirds of Australia’s part-time workers are satisfied with their temporary job.
Thirty-two per cent of those surveyed saw the temporary job as a stepping stone to a full-time position, while 41 chose contract work to maintain a flexible lifestyle.
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