LABOR MARKET – AUSTRALIA

Australian unemployment increases 186,000 to 10.3% in May – a month after the end of JobKeeper

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Jun-21

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that 1.49 million Australians were unemployed in May, up 186,000 on April for an unemployment rate of 10.3%. Some 13.07 million Australians were employed in May, just below the record high in April: a record 8,679,000 workers were employed full-time, an increase of 145,000 from April and the seventh straight monthly increase. However, the increase in full-time employment was offset by a drop of 367,000 in part-time employment, to 4,390,000. In addition to those who were unemployed, 1.26 million Australians (8.6% of the workforce) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work. This was a decrease of 101,000 on April. In total 2.75 million Australians (18.9% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in May, an increase of 85,000 on April. The increase was driven by rising unemployment in May. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 10.3% for May is over 4% points higher than the current ABS estimate for April 2021 of 5.5%

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Jobs defy wage subsidy’s demise

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Original article by Patrick Commins, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 21-May-21

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the latest jobs data shows that the federal government was justified in ending the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme in late March. New figures show that about 31,000 jobs were cut in April, well below forecasts that between 100,000 and 150,000 jobs would be lost when JobKeeper ended. The figures also show that 132,000 people have moved off income support since March. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has welcomed the slight fall in the official unemployment rate, but she says many workers are underemployed or in multiple jobs that are insecure and unreliable. Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles notes that 1.8 million Australians are still looking for work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

50 is the new 60 when defining older worker

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 17-May-21

Seventeen per cent of business leaders now classify people aged 51-55 as ‘older’ workers, compared to just 11 per cent in 2018. This is according to a survey by the Australian Human Resources Institute and the Human Rights Commission; just under 50 per cent of those surveyed stated that they would be reluctant to hire someone over a specific age. Age Discrimination Commissioner Kay Patterson contends that businesses should be looking at the value of "multi-generational workplaces"; she notes the most important thing is the ability to do your job, rather than your chronological age.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Work Aussies won’t do: market mismatches

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 8-Feb-21

The federal government has convened an inquiry into Australia’s skilled migrant program, to be headed by the Liberal Party’s Julian Leeser. One aspect of the program it will look at is whether any adjustments are needed in the light of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of work. The inquiry comes as employers say they are struggling to find Australians who are willing to do certain jobs; it has been suggested that visas for overseas workers should be rolled over so that they do not have to return to their own country when their visa expires. Welfare programs such as JobKeeper and JobSeeker are also seen as a constraint on employment by some employers.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Unemployment down to 11.7% in January – lowest since March 2020, but under-employment increases again

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Feb-21

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that 1.68 million Australians (11.7% of the workforce) were unemployed in January 2021 (down 44,000 on December). In addition, 1.44 million Australians (10.0% of the workforce) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work. This was an increase of 81,000 on a month ago and an increase of 154,000 over the last two months. Meanwhile, some 12,675,000 Australians were employed in January (up 26,000 from December). The rise in employment was driven by an increase in full-time employment, up 46,000 to 8,197,000; part-time employment was down 20,000 to 4,478,000. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 11.7% for January is over 5% points higher than the current ABS estimate for December 2020 of 6.6%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Workers in private sector turn their backs on unions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Stephen Lunn
The Weekend Australian – Page: 2 : 12-Dec-20

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that just 9.2 per cent of workers in the private sector are now members of unions, down from 12.1 per cent in 2014. In percentage terms, union membership in the public sector has fallen from 39.6 per cent to 36.8 per cent in the last six years; however, the number of union members has actually risen from 570,00 to 710,000 over this period. The ABS figures also show that casual workers were the hardest hit during the downturn in the labour market in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ABS October unemployment estimate counts 134,000 Australians working zero hours in October for economic reasons as employed

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Original article by Gary Morgan, Michele Levine, Julian McCrann
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Nov-20

The ABS unemployment estimate for October 2020 claims 960,900 Australians were unemployed (7.0% of the workforce), up 0.1% points on September 2020. However, the ABS claim the participation rate has dropped from 66% in March to 65.8% in October. If the ABS participation rate was steady at 66% there would be an extra 60,000 people in the workforce now and a total of 1.03 million unemployed. In addition, within the ABS employment release for hours worked it notes that 133,800 Australians the ABS count as employed worked zero hours in October for economic reasons. If these non-workers are added the adjusted ABS unemployment estimate is 1.16 million – an unemployment rate of 8.4%. Combined with the ABS under-employment estimate of 1.43 million that would be 2.59 million Australians unemployed or under-employed in October – 18.8% of the Australian workforce. This ‘adjusted’ ABS estimate is significantly closer to Roy Morgan’s unemployment & under-employment estimate of 22.2% for October released two weeks ago.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ALP cries JobTaker as wage subsidy gets over the line

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 12-Nov-20

The Senate has voted 30-28 to pass the federal government’s JobMaker bill without any amendments, after One Nation and Centre Alliance agreed to back the legislation. One Nation had previously indicated that it would support an amendment proposed by Labor that was designed to prevent employers from sacking existing staff and hiring younger workers in order to qualify for the subsidy. One Nation has rejected suggestions that it made a ‘side deal’ with the government.

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ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor looks to amend JobMaker subsidy over concerns older workers could be sacked

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Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

Labor has yet to decide whether to support the federal government’s JobMaker hiring credit scheme, which will be debated in the Senate on 9 November. However, senior Labor sources have indicated that the Opposition will seek amendments to the draft legislation to ensure that employers cannot sack older staff and replace them with workers under the age of 35 in order to qualify for the subsidy. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has called for labour hire firms to be excluded from the scheme, arguing that they could exploit loopholes in the draft legislation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION

Unemployment virtually unchanged in October at 12.8% – but up 2.5% to 14.6% in locked down Victoria

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Nov-20

Latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows 1.81 million Australians unemployed (12.8% of the workforce), down 18,000 from September. There were fewer people looking for part-time work, down 76,000 to 1,020,000 but there was an increase of 58,000 people looking for full-time work to 790,000. In Victoria unemployment was up 2.5% to 14.6% – the highest of any mainland State as the strict lockdown continued in Melbourne until the last few days of the month. On raw numbers unemployment in Victoria was up 101,000 to 560,000 and under-employment increased 109,000 to 438,000 – almost 1 million unemployed or under-employed (26.1%).

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED