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Jobs growth for women, but only in areas where employment grows

Posted by  on Tuesday, September 20th 2011     

 

 

 

 

Anne Junor

The latest figures shows that the number of women working in the labour market has grown, but only in areas where there is a growth in the number of jobs available. 

Now, if you look at where women are located vertically in career hierarchies, no prizes for guessing that the higher you go, the more male-dominated.

Overall, the number of women in the market has grown, but the women share has grown in the past 20 years from 39% to 45% of full time paid work, while part-time work has grown from 19% to 39%. However she says “unfortunately though permanent part time work has increased, much part time work is casual in nature, with no secure contract.

The figures show that women’s employment growth has been in areas where jobs growth has occurred. By and large women have not been moving into male areas, but have been occupying new jobs in areas of growth – particularly in the service sector.

A detailed breakdown of jobs growth in certain areas shows a wide variation of jobs growth between sectors.

  • In manufacturing, little has changed, with women’s jobs concentrated in food manufacture and to a lesser extent in printing.
  • In retail, the women’s share of fashion and household good retailing remains at around 64% and part time work has jumped from 34% to 49%; The women’s share of food retailing remains around 55%, with  part time  work increasing from 42% to 60% in food retail. In vehicle retail there is a slight increase in part time work, which has increased a little but women remain less than a quarter of the industry sector.
  • Finance and insurance are now just under 60% female, with a strong growth in part time work. There is however a lack of skill recognition and career paths.
  • For community services there is a huge growth in female share and in  part time  work. It is now 80% female, compared with 63% two decades ago.

Largely as a result of new jobs going to women, finance, education, health and community service jobs have become feminised. Education and health and community services are now strongly female occupations. The feminisation of finance started in the late 1970s with the restructure of retail banking, and this is still growing strongly.

It is fair to say that the growth of part time employment has facilitated women’s employment, and that part time employment is unevenly available.  While there has been a definite growth in permanent part time employment over the past 25 years, it can still pose career risks, and in any case the bulk of part time work is still casual.

Anne Junor is the Deputy Director Industrial Relations Research Centre, and Executive Co-Editor of the Economic and Labour Relations Review.

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Categorized in Leadership, Strategic Management

No book thrown in Centro penalty decision

Posted by  on Monday, September 5th 2011     


 

 

 

Anil Hargovan

The Federal Court has not imposed extra penalties on six non-executive directors involved in the Centro court case, saying their convictions for breaching the Corporations Act are penalty enough.

My first impression suggests that Justice Middleton in the Centro case appears to have taken one step forward (in the liability decision which set the bar on directors performance standards in reading accounts dauntingly high) and two steps back (in the penalty decision handed down yesterday which did not go far enough in sanctioning oversight failure).

The tone of the penalty decision appears to be less caustic and more forgiving of the directors failure to exercise care and diligence.

The failure to throw the book at the directors in the penalty decision  has polarised the corporate community, attracted controversy and seen a vituperative reaction from sections of the media.

The penalty decision elevates shame and reputational loss as strong determinants of general deterrence but will not appease those baying for blood following significant oversight by the directors in the accounts involving billions of dollars.

The penalty decision boosts the directors shame and reputational loss as an effective deterrence tool.  Such sanctions will only be effective, however, for those directors who put a premium on their reputations.

Media reaction to the penalty decision would suggest that the penalties handed down were largely meaningless. It is important to remember that the judge refused to exonerate or grant forgiveness for breaches of the Corporation Act and did issue court declarations of breach of law which puts a stain of the cv of the directors and, more ominously, offers no comfort to the company and its directors facing class action by the shareholders.

In the refusal to grant forgiveness and the confirmation of breaches of law, the penalty decision has laid a stronger foundation and boosts the prospects of  shareholder success in the class action against the company. Herein lies the potential for a greater penalty afforded by this decision.  Perhaps the judge had one eye on the potential impact of the class action and tempered the penalty decision in light thereof.

Anil Hargovan is an Associate Professor at the Australian School of Taxation & Business Law at the ustralian School of Business.

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Categorized in Leadership, Strategic Management

Knowledge@Australian School of Business Today

Posted by  on Monday, June 20th 2011     

The blog of Knowledge@Australian School of Business, the online business journal of the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales. Knowledge@Australian School of Business covers research in Finance, Strategic Management, Marketing, Leadership, Social Impact, Population Ageing and eight other knowledge research categories.

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Categorized in Finance, Knowledge Today, Leadership, Marketing, Population Ageing, Social Impact, Strategic Management
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