It’s all about employment

The collective pulse of our nation is steadily increasing; pushed upwards as Australians are becoming anxious about their ability to gain and maintain the level of employment required to ensure their own economic stability.

It is not just a matter of having a job but having sufficient employment. You may have a job but not enough hours or dollars to pay the bills.

The distinction is critical. Jobs and growth slogans just don’t cut it. This is highlighted every month as full time jobs are being replaced by part time or casual employment.

The level of anxiety is cross generational but is not at significant levels that people are seriously concerned, irrespective of current data and future trends. People still remain comfortable enough particularly in two income families.

The unemployment rate in Australia currently stands at 5.7{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52} a number that is celebrated. Staggeringly there are 14.2{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52} of the population that need more employment. This number is not focused on. Combine these numbers and almost one in five Australians today are either unemployed or need more employment.

Redundancies have become normal practice with Australian businesses firing more workers through company downsizing compared with many other developed nations.

Of those people being made redundant 70{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52} of workers will find a job within a year. However, maintaining the level of income and hours of work is not a given.

In fact, according to an OECD report one in three will be paid less than they were in their old jobs.  One in eight move into jobs that require a lower set of skills and have to accept a temporary or part time position.

Combine this current data with the prospect of 40 percent of all current jobs disappearing within the next ten years, declining wage growth, and record household debt anxiety would be anticipated.

Yet Australians are not as anxious as you may expect under the circumstances. Part of the reason, not the whole reason, is 25 years of sustained economic growth has provided economic and psychological buffers which provides ongoing comfort.

Firstly, economic buffers have enabled many Australians to survive economic hardships like significant redundancy payouts, wage growth and increased value of the family home.

Secondly the psychological buffer that Australians themselves believe they live in “the lucky country” and getting a job is about hard work.

Paradoxically the comfort of these buffers may also help blind sight the population and prevent them from acting quickly enough.

Historically, securing fulltime employment was a given. Today this is almost a mythology. This is particularly significant for the new generation of school leavers and people over fifty. Children are staying home longer with significant student debt and weak job prospects in an uncertain housing market. Many of the older generation, once they are unemployed are less likely to obtain employment that will maintain their standard of living.

The family home was considered a nest egg to be passed on to the next generation. Today, as people live longer and financial resources become less abundant family homes need to be sold.

Redundancy for long term employees was considered a mortgage relief. After three decades of downsizing there are few people with significant tenure that redundancy is a significant buffer.

Saving for a rainy day are words from another era. House hold debt in Australia has more debt compared to the size of the country’s economy than any other in the world.

For many the cash economy provides an unspoken buffer. House cleaners, gardeners, handymen, and market stall holders often get paid in cash. This buffer will disappear as we march towards the cashless society within a decade.

However insignificant, there are tangible signs that anxiety levels are rising. People are accruing workplace entitlements like annual leave and long service leave in case they are made redundant. In some workplaces voluntary turnover is decreasing. More people are stashing a small amount of cash just in case.

The politicians certainly do not want the masses to be too concerned. Confidence is the key to economic growth. The population is sent messages like we live in the best of times, the best country and technology and innovation is the saviour.

The economic buffers are running out, but they have not run out yet. Positive psychological buffers can propel us forward but only if they are realistic. Grounded in the current reality of our times we are more likely to be pro-active and create the future. We must listen to our anxieties. They are there for a reason.

If we are lulled into a false sense of comfort, we are less likely to act quickly enough or effectively enough. It’s time for the nation to read the trends and face the realities.

We don’t want to be like the frog that was placed in cool water, quietly comfortable as the water slowly heats up to boiling point. Then without noticing the frog is slowly boiled to death.