Discuss about the Future Work Skilled Workforce and Productivity.
Employment is one of the most serious and primary concern which affects the students across the globe. There are present extensive working opportunities for the students globally. It is one of the biggest challenges for the students to possess all such qualities which are required for the job profiles. When there is discussion regarding the labor market it can be said that Australia possesses an improved status of the labor market on the economic aspects. And the markets satisfy the needs and requirements of the graduates by providing them various employment opportunities (Davidson, Timo and Wang, 2010). The following report will discuss about the labor market, its statistics, market data and information. The labor market is developing and extending rapidly with an up surging rate. The labor market of the retail industry is also explained through the organization named Coles. There are various challenges faced by the labor market in the retail sector as well as extensive changes have also taken place which the report will highlight. There are also several new trends which have taken place in the labor market of the retail sector which has changes the entire scenario of the sector and given rise to the employment rate. The final analysis of the retail labor market will be done by undertaking an interview with an employee of Coles Group. This interview will throw light over the present situation of the employees in the organization, past incidences associated with the labors or union, employment opportunities and satisfaction level of the employees. The report concludes with an overall analysis and a concluding statement.
The labor market of Australia is said to be improved and in a better economic status as the unemployment rate is continuously decreasing and people are seeking for jobs in a greater number. The Australian market provides extensive opportunities to the individuals and the students to have regular employment.
There has been a sudden increase in the employment in Australia of approximately 37,400 jobs as per the report of labor market of Australia, December 2016. As well as there is a decrease of 6.1 percent in the unemployment of the country (Financial Times, 2016).
According to the regional reports the unemployment rate in all the regions of Australia except Western Australia has experienced a decrease which shows the signs of positivity in the employment opportunities and the labor market of the country (Financial Times, 2016).
Trend Estimates for November 2016: Increase in the employment 3,100 to 11,949,300. There is a decrease in the unemployment of 700 to 714,000. The participation as well as the rate of unemployment remianed intact i.e. 64.5 percent and 5.6 percent respectivey (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016).
Recennt trends in the Labor market: the labor market of OECD ahs theire vital role in imptroving the employment rate of OECD. From the mid 2015, the labor market of Australia has strengthened. In the mid 2015, the unemployment rate was at its extend i.e. 6.2 percent which has dropped down to 5.7 petrcent in the 2016 May. Australia has been considered as one of the strongest natiin in the literacy level and skilled workforce. The highly skilled people have their secured jobs but the majot concern which is left over os on the indivoiduals or student of age group 15to 29 years old. As they do not have high skills therefore there are always serious concerns for this age group individuals regarding better employment opportunities (OECD, 2016).
Presently there are approximately more than 1.2 million people who are employed in the retail industry. Retail sector is recognized as one of the sectors which have employed the highest number of younger individuals of less than age of 45. The retail sector is also renowned for providing the graduates and individuals their first job. In almost all other industries there is an average of forty six percent of women workforce whereas in the Australia retail sector there are fifty six percent of women in the overall workforce. There are widely available part time working opportunities for the individuals in the retail sector so that the graduates can continue with their further studies or any other work (Australian Workforce and Productivity agency, 2014).
Challenges faced by the industry
The education and trainings one of the challenge faced by the industry as the maximum of the employees in the retail labor market possess low level of the qualifications and education. People just after their secondary schooling or post-school qualification join this sector in the need of job. And it is one of the challenges for the industry to take effective utilization of the higher education and trainings offered under the framework of career progression.
Changes occurred in the industry in the last 5 years
There are number of changes which have taken place in the industry in last few years which has impacted the demand for the labor and skills in a broader sense. The changes are the result of number of factors such as emerging technologies, sustainable practices, increasing competition, globalization, consumer preferences, economic situations and demographics of the nation.
The Australian retail sector has huge opportunities because of development of Asia and the middle class of Asia as their demands and need for consumer goods are riding a an increasing rate (Jefferson and Preston, 2010). At the same time there are changes and difficulties arise because of increasing globalization as other global retailers are getting established in Australia and giving a tough co petition to the domestic retail market, the international retailers are also providing higher wages to the labor and facilitating them to switch over to their companies (Lawrence, Richards and Lyons, 2013).
The most powerful change which has impacted the sector and the industry is the technological innovation. There are continuous technological innovations take place in almost all the operations of retail. The online retailing is one of the fastest growing aspects of the retailing operations (Nickson, et al., 2012). The consumers are facilitating towards online purchasing of the products and services. Therefore the need of individuals who are educated and techno-friendly are in much demand to handle these online operations. Because of the global recession there was a sudden decrease in the demand of products, employment as well as industries (Plumb, Kent and Bishop, 2013). But with the passageof time the circumstances changed and presently the retail sector is one of the fastest growing and developing sectors in the nation.
One of the biggest changes which have impacted the retail sector and the labor industry is the change in the preferences of the consumers. The customers preferred buying of products from those companies who have higher sustainability and ethical recognition in the industry. Therefore the companies were required to have appropriate labor laws, environmental protection and ethical standards in the business. This forces the companies to pay adequate wages to the labor which improve the employment standards of the individuals (Hall and van den Broek, 2011).
In the last few years there has been experienced identified that there is increased development of the retail labor market. The companies are required to have ethical practices to be involved in the employment of the workers. There must be equity in employment, wages and working hours of the employees. The companies have been bind to use ethical and sustainable practices regarding the wages and shift hours of the employees as well as providing a safe and secure environment to the workers at the workplace. thus it has been analyzed that there are several developments which have taken place in the retail labor market for increasing the employment opportunities and growth of the sector as well as the employees (Dyster and Meredith, 2012).
Coles is one of the highly recognized and well established supermarket chains of Australia which is now a part of Wesfarmers supermarket chain. To understand the labor market of the retail sector, Coles is one of the most appropriate organization to be selected for getting the most likely and relevant information. The company provides employment to around 100,000 individuals and recognized as a viable source of employment. In the coming five years there are chances that the retail labor market will have a significant boom. The analysts forecasted that in the coming year there will be an increase of 8.9 percent in the employment in the retail sector and an increase of average of 1.7 percent every year (Richardson, n.d.). And Coles has its significant and vital role in the development of the labor market of Australia as well as providing number of employment opportunities to the individuals. The company has high ethical standards and code of conducts which give a safe and adequate working environment as well as opportunity to the employees to grow.
There has been conducted an interview with one of the employee at the sales and retailing department of Coles to know the in-depth information of the various trends and changes in the labor market. The interviewee has an experience of around two years at the organization. He is a well associated employee of the organization who is very well engaged in the retailing operations. There were few important questions which were asked to the employee such as regarding the present situation of the employees in the organization, any knowledge regarding past incidences associated with the labors or union, occurrence of employment opportunities and satisfaction level of the employees.
The interviewee answers all these questions by sharing his personal experience. There was information provided by him regarding the present situation of the employees and the retail labor market. There are now increasing demand of the individuals who can handle either the front operations or the back-office operations. There is also need of individuals to handle the customer grievances both at the physical stores as well as online issues and queries. The retail market is offering extensive employment opportunities to the individuals to build their career in sales and marketing portfolio. There is continuous employment of new individuals in the organization at distinct stores of the company. The workers are also paid adequately both in the part time shift and in the full time shift as per their type of work (Giannikis and Mihail, 2011).
The satisfaction level of the employees presently is also high in the organization as the wages provided are adequate as per the wages and labor laws. The shift hours are also flexible i.e. part time and full time and as per the various norms and governmental laws (Mitchell, et al., 2010). There are few past incidences taken place in the organization which shows that there were some labor issues at Coles in the past. The issues were related to unpaid wages, squat and unreasonable wages provided to the workers according to their work. But with proper strategies and practices the company solved all such issues and presently it holds a good position in the labor market. The individuals are seeking employment opportunities at the organization in a large number.
Conclusion
The labor market is always recognized as one of the highly dynamic markets across the globe. There are several changes which have occurred in the labor market before and after globalization. In the report it has been analyzed that there were several factors which impacted the labor market, the employment arte and the unemployment rate. From this report it has concluded that the retail sector is one of the most chief sectors which regulates and impacts the labor market (Billett, et al., 2011). This sector engages high number of individuals which ultimately results into positive change in the employment rate of the nation. From the analysis of the retail sector in contrast with the labor market it has been evaluated that there are several changes which have taken place in the sector because of innovative techniques, globalization and foreign competition. There has been selected Coles Group as it is one of the most renowned organization in the retail sector which pro des the most reliable and specific information required to understand the labor market in the retail sector. The interview conducted with one of the employee of Coles has also provided enough information regarding the trends, employment opportunities, past incidences and changes in the labor market of the retail sector. From the overall analysis of the report it can be evaluated and concluded that for the graduates and other individuals there are several extensive employment opportunities available in the retail sector. The labor market of Australia provides huge growth opportunities to the students and the individuals. From the last few years it can be concluded that there are several changes occurred in the sector and the labor market which resulted to improvement in the employment opportunities and success of the labor market.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016. 6202.0 – Labour Force, Australia, Nov 2016, NOVEMBER KEY FIGURES, Accessed on: 8th January, 2017, Accessed from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6202.0
Australian Government, 2016. Labor Market Information Portal, Accessed on: 8th January, 2017, Accessed from: https://lmip.gov.au/
Australian Workforce and Productivity agency, 2014. Retail workforce study, Pp.150, Accessed on: 8th January, 2017, Accessed from: https://www.serviceskills.com.au/sites/default/files/files/Publications/Retail%20workforce%20study_1.pdf
Billett, S., Dymock, D., Johnson, G. and Martin, G., 2011. Overcoming the paradox of employers’ views about older workers. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(06), pp.1248-1261.
Davidson, M.C., Timo, N. and Wang, Y., 2010. How much does labour turnover cost? A case study of Australian four-and five-star hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(4), pp.451-466.
Dyster, B. and Meredith, D., 2012. Australia in the global economy: continuity and change. Cambridge University Press.
Financial Times, 2016. What is going on in Australia’s labour market? Accessed on: 8th January, 2017, Accessed from: https://www.ft.com/content/4edc4ff8-9c8c-11e4-a730-00144feabdc0
Giannikis, S.K. and Mihail, D.M., 2011. Modelling job satisfaction in low-level jobs: Differences between full-time and part-time employees in the Greek retail sector. European Management Journal, 29(2), pp.129-143.
Hall, R. and van den Broek, D., 2011. Aestheticising retail workers: Orientations of aesthetic labour in Australian fashion retail. Economic and Industrial Democracy, p.0143831X11427592.
Jefferson, T. and Preston, A., 2010. Labour markets and wages in Australia in 2009. Journal of Industrial Relations, 52(3), pp.335-354.
Lawrence, G., Richards, C. and Lyons, K., 2013. Food security in Australia in an era of neoliberalism, productivism and climate change. Journal of Rural Studies, 29, pp.30-39.
Mitchell, R., Gahan, P., Stewart, A., Cooney, S. and Marshall, S., 2010. The evolution of labour law in Australia: Measuring the change. Australian Journal of Labour Law, 23(2), pp.61-93.
Nickson, D., Warhurst, C., Commander, J., Hurrell, S.A. and Cullen, A.M., 2012. Soft skills and employability: Evidence from UK retail. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 33(1), pp.65-84.
OECD, 2016. How does AUSTRALIA compare? Employment Outlook 2016, Pp.2, Accessed on: 8th January, 2017, Accessed from: https://www.oecd.org/australia/Employment-Outlook-Australia-EN.pdf
Plumb, M., Kent, C. and Bishop, J., 2013. Implications for the Australian economy of strong growth in Asia. Reserve Bank of Australia.
Richardson, S., n.d. The Retail Labour Market, National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, Pp.52, Accessed on: 8th January, 2017, Accessed from: https://www.flinders.edu.au/sabs/nils-files/reports/Retail_Labour_Market.pdf
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