The latest release of the Fairfax Media Employment Forecast finds, that although the Australia’s economy is slowing under the weight of the Global Downturn, employment is forecast to grow but at low levels and Australia will avoid the large job shedding that the USA and UK are experiencing.
It also finds that the Government stimulus packages, lower interest rates and a lower exchange rate will assist in keeping Australia reasonably insulated from the downturn but we are facing more difficult times.
As the stimulus initiatives take hold, the job market is expected to start to improve in the second half of the year.
Typically, in difficult times the least educated and the unskilled (read younger workers) experience the brunt of the forecast rise in unemployment and this time it is expected to happen again.
The dynamics of the labour market have changed as well, temporarily – now, there is much more of a “sit tight” culture with fewer people willing to switch jobs and business reluctant to take on new staff.
Business is also switching to more casual staff, once again this is a fairly typical response in challenging times as business seeks to reduce labour costs.
Click on the links below to download your PDF copy of The Age Employment Forecast March 2009 Employment Forecast, or the easy to understand two-page summary of the Forecast.
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