Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A seven-year study undertaken by Pusey (2003) investigated what 'middle
Australia' (people who are neither rich nor poor) have experienced as a result
of recent economic reforms and found that the vast majority believed that big
business has too much power and should be more closely regulated. Corpora-
tions were perceived as the only winners from economic reform, especially
their CEOs who have been rewarded with increasingly larger salary packages.
Pusey concluded that Australia needs to consider international evidence
showing that societies that seek to make the economy serve the people tend to
be more effective (measured in terms of conventional economic indicators)
than those that try to make the people serve the economy.
So in broad terms there have been both positive and negative perspec-
tives on the future of work. Pessimists predict a divided society where jobs as
such have disappeared for good (Bridges 1995) and there is mass unemploy-
ment, growing insecurity and widening social divisions. Capelli (1999)
argues that the 'end of the career' will occur due to factors such as competi-
tive pressures, volatile markets, more demanding shareholders, the ongoing
need for flexibility (cost reductions), weaker trade unions and changing skill
requirements. Conversely, Jacoby (1999) argues that this thesis is
not
sup-
ported by labour market evidence and the continuing experience of long-
term employment in many public and private sector industries indicates that
the long-term career is far from over. On the positive side, it has also been
claimed that the 'new' economy will liberate many employees from dull,
dreary and degrading jobs. In general, there is a lack of systematic evidence
to support many of the claims on either side although much of the data pre-
sented in this chapter does tend to confirm the more pessimistic viewpoint
concerning the future of work.
Recent developments concerning the Australian workforce
Although this chapter primarily focuses on the future of paid work, unpaid
work is recognised as an important contributor to the economy and will be
referred to later. In relation to paid work in Australia, it is suggested that the
following factors are the most significant.
Increased female participation in the workforce
There has been a significant rise in female participation in paid work. Con-
versely, the proportion of adult men in the paid workforce is slowly declin-
ing, in common with most OECD countries. In the 1960s almost all men of
working age were employed. This proportion fell to approximately 76 per
