Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
non-market work on each other, the salience of unpaid work to men, or of
the economic significance of market work to women.
For many people work gives meaning to their life. The social importance
of charitable and household work reaches far beyond its economic impor-
tance as this type of work enriches family and community life, conserves cul-
tural traditions and fosters human development (Greenwatch 1997).
Careers of the future are likely to be fragmented, disjointed, unpredicta-
ble and associated with lifelong learning and training. Work will be increas-
ingly global and take place across borders. In addition, governments have to
think about taxation and welfare systems. Where employment status is
ambiguous and more workers are located outside traditional workplaces
(even outside the country), the sustainability of the traditional tax base
becomes questionable. Moreover, if your employment arrangements are
fragmented and discontinuous, then it is difficult to develop any sustainable
retirement income arrangements. One major problem for current superan-
nuation arrangements, even without equity market bubbles, is that they are
premised on a regular and sustainable full-time employment arrangement -
something that is not universal in the current economy.
Towards a sustainable future of work?
Much of the economic change of the past 25 years has been driven by
increased market competition. Whereas previously the quality of a firm's
product or service, price and customer service were major factors influenc-
ing a firm's competitiveness in the national and international marketplace,
contemporary firms are finding that their reputation for social responsibility
may also influence investment decisions. The Federal Minister for the Envi-
ronment and Heritage, Hon. Dr David Kemp (2002) gave an address to the
Asia Society Forum where he stated that:
… the pursuit of sustainability is not about ending economic growth
or returning to the practices of smaller and simpler societies. It is
about mobilising our intellectual and technological resources to better
understand the consequences of our actions, so that we can replace
unsustainable practices with sustainable ones.
Strategies to support sustainable work practices are, however,
unlikely
to
evolve at the individual firm level. Instead, we argue that coordinated
