A selection of recent Eye catching news stories during August 2010:

Bias against older IT workers doesn’t compute
The Australian Computer Society has called for urgent action to end discrimination against older information and communications technology workers. The ACS report, Improving Age Diversity in the ICT Workforce, prepared by a special “ageism” taskforce, documents the under-utilisation of technology workers aged 45 plus despite a protracted period of technology skills shortages. Australia’s mature-age participation rate is below that of comparable countries such as New Zealand, Britain, Canada and the United States. The ACS has called for a code of practice for the IT industry and collaboration between government, industry and the Australian Human Rights Commission to create a national strategy to tackle ageism in the workplace. The taskforce also wants employers and recruitment firms to review processes that discriminate against older workers.
As reported in BRW Magazine 29 July 2010

Tech-happy workers ‘may be a risk to business’
More than three-quarters of technology professionals in Australia believe their organisations are effective at integrating IT risk management with their overall business risk management, but of them only 17 per cent would go so far as to say their employers are “very effective”. A survey of IT professionals by the Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA) also asked how employee behaviour contributes to risk in their organizations. The three biggest concerns were: employees not fully understanding IT policies (56 per cent); checking personal emails or visiting social networking sites from work devices (52 per cent) and using unauthorized software or online services for their work (42 per cent).
As reported in BRW Magazine 29 July 2010

Time to stand up for less sitting around at work
The gentle art of sitting is not as benign as it seems. We sit too much, especially at work where we spend more than two thirds of the time in a chair. Just as it took years to edge smoking out of the office, so the long process of reducing prolonged sitting has just begun. The process will be long because sitting is deeply entrenched in office culture and is rewarded. It is equated with productivity and those who spend the most hours at their desks are applauded for their diligence. Now researchers say there should be a mixture of sitting and standing, with frequent transitions through the day. Standing is active, it switches on muscles. The little muscle contractions not only burn energy but are important for processing metabolic components such as blood glucose and blood fats. Over a 30 year career the incremental benefits from this extra muscle activity are likely to be considerable.
As reported in The Australian Financial Review 29 July 2010

Whether X or Y, it’s T for toil
A new study has found no evidence of a “lazy” generation Y or generation X cohort compared with baby boomers. The national Australian Work and Life Index 2010, covering almost 10,000 workers, found actual working hours were longest for generation X and baby boomers in the prime time for careers and work. Working hours were shorter for generation Y and teen workers with the latter finishing education and training and among “grey workers” aged 65 or more who were winding down. But the study by the University of South Australia’s Centre for Work and Life, found generation X men worked the longest hours – about 45 hours a week, almost three more than baby boomers. Working hours for women were clustered around “long part time” levels of 32 to 33 hours a week across generations X and Y and the baby boomers. The study led by academic Barbara Pocock, found all three generations would prefer to work about 34 to 35 hours a week. Most women feel consistently time pressured while half of the men surveyed felt the same way. Women are still doing about two thirds of the unpaid work and are more likely to feel under pressure when in part time work.
As reported in The Australian Financial Review 4 August 2010

Casual work doesn’t equal work/life balance
Casual workers do not enjoy more flexibility or better work/life balance than those in permanent jobs, and many would like to work more hours, according to new research. An in-depth survey of 2,800 employed people, carried out by the University of South Australia’s Centre For Work and Life, found that casual workers did not report a greater sense of work/life balance. Casual work does not, as it is sometimes assumed, help workers better reconcile work and care. We consistently observe that casual work and self employment are not associated with better work life outcomes compared to permanent workers. The workers with the worst work/life balance over all were in managerial and professional roles. People in casual work were the most likely of any group to want to increase their working week by four hours or more (45%).
As reported in ShortList 4 August 2010

School ICT lessons a turn-off says Royal Society
Information technology lessons in UK schools are so dull they are putting pupils off the subject and careers in computing, the Royal Society warns. The organisation said the situation would lead to an unskilled workforce and threaten the UK’s economy. Launching a study of how lessons might be improved, the Society said the number of pupils in England doing ICT GCSE had fallen 33% over three years. And there was a 33% fall, between 2003 and 2009, in ICT A level candidates. Now the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, is embarking on a new study: Computing in schools and its importance and implications for the economic and scientific well being of the UK.
As reported by BBC News 5 August 2010

Part time holds up job numbers
ABS figures just released show seasonally adjusted employment increased by 23,500 in July, with full time jobs down 4,200 and part time up 27,700. The unemployment rate increased 0.2% to 5.3% on the back of a rise in the participation rate of 0.2% to 65.5%. Aggregate monthly hours worked decreased 7.2 million hours (-0.5%) to 1,578.5 million hours.
As reported in ShortList 12 August 2010

Aging workforce requires HR rethink
Australia’s workforce is ageing and employers need to adjust their human resources strategies accordingly, social demographer Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research warns. McCrindle says baby boomers are retiring in record numbers and next year Australia can expect to hit the point of “peak labour” when there will be more people exiting full time roles than there will be people entering them. He cautions that every organisation, every product and every brand is just one generation away from extinction unless companies engage with the emerging generations of Y and Z. McCrindle warns there are now 4.7 million Gen Y Australian’s who comprise 21 per cent of the workforce. In 2020 this will climb to 35 per cent, while over the same period bay boomers will decline from 36% of the workforce to just 15 per cent. There are 4.2 million Gen Z Australians who by 2020 will comprise 12 per cent of the workforce. He says Australians aged 20-24 are three times more likely to change jobs in a year than those agreed 45-54 but employers can do more to tempt Gen Y’s to stay. McCrindle found that the top five attraction and retention factors for Gen Y’s are: work-life balance, workplace community, management style, job description and training and development.
As reported in BRW Magazine 19 August 2010

Sex in the office
Two high profile chief executives have cause to rue their actions in the office lately. But its not just high profile companies that have to be wary of sexual harassment claims. According to a survey by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2008, more than one in five women reported that they had been sexually harassed. A further 22 per cent who said they hadn’t been sexually harassed then went on to describe behaviour consistent with the harassment when they were interviewed. Both the harasser and the employer can face financial penalties. For the employer, if the case goes to the Federal Court via the Human Rights Commission, damages can be unlimited. However, it’s the non financial damage – particularly to reputation – that can really hurt.
As reported in the BRW Magazine 12 August 2010

Alarm at technology shortfall
Senior executives from business and the government have warned that a shortage of maths and technology graduates could result in Australia losing its capability to develop and innovate its own technologies, making the country dependent on overseas talent to drive economic growth. Bank of Queensland chief executive David Liddy said Australia now sits very low in the headcount of graduates with the maths skills needed for technology jobs compared to nearby competing economies. Liberal arts studies are not going to get us where we are going to need to get, we need many more mathematicians and applied mathematicians to drive innovation in businesses. India and China and places like that are spewing them out. The growth in the US and other developed countries has come mainly through immigration of skilled mathematicians.
As reported in The Australian Financial Review 13 August 2010

Workplace cop flexes muscle
The Fair Work Ombudsman raked in a record amount of court-awarded penalties last financial year as it stepped up action against firms breaching industrial laws. Figures obtained from Fair Work Australia show 57 prosecutions netted a total of $2.2 million last financial year up 20 per cent from the year before and more than four times the $387,000 won in 2006. The ombudsman said the rise in penalties was a result of a greater willingness to litigate following the introduction of the Fair Work Act. Following the introduction of stronger legislation, the courts have been prepared to increase the quantum of their penalties we regularly receive penalties now in the high $100K and mid $200K range. The ombudsman warned businesses that this financial year it would be targeting unlawful workplace discrimination, on which it can now litigate via “adverse action” claims.
As reported in The Australian Financial Review 23 August 2010