![]() ![]() My favourite real-world example is ordering food using a QR code on the table. The robot McDonald's is one such example, but that’s not mainstream yet. In a tight labour market, some places will crank up their productivity by investing in automation (this also often means getting customers to do some of the labour). We all know that in a recession the least-productive firms close - the same can happen in times when inputs are tight. These firms count as unproductive and, as they close, their labour is freed up to go and work for more productive firms. In a tight market they won’t be able to operate. That’s what happens to places that can’t afford to pay staff properly, and/or can’t muster up the management power to hire effectively. I know some small retail and takeaway places near me have shut down for days on end because they can’t find enough staff. People are able to go looking for a job that actually suits them. The current environment must be causing an absolute flourishing among employed Australians, and also among those looking for a job. But so is being stuck in a job you can’t stand, or aren’t really suited to. Unemployment is extremely corrosive to people’s mental health. Some of them are probably wealthy business owners who pop into the office or factory for a look around or investors who open their trading account for a bit each week, and call that a week’s work.Ī tight labour market is a wonderful thing for people’s well-being. What’s more, most people who report working an hour a week want to work only one hour a week – they don’t want more hours. If you set the cut-off at two or three hours instead, the unemployment rate wouldn’t change. However very, very few people work only an hour a week. This is the international standard created by a UN agency, the International Labour Organisation. The ABS survey counts anyone as employed if they work an hour or more in the survey week. ![]() Indeed, many people on Jobseeker payments aren’t unemployed (you can do a few hours of work a week and still collect partial payments), while many unemployed people aren’t on Jobseeker The unemployment rate is data collected from the ABS quite independently, using a big survey. The stats don’t just count people collecting Jobseeker payments from Centrelink. It’s worthwhile, at this point, to cover off a couple of important things about the unemployment statistics: But I heard the unemployment statistics are a scam? That’s another facet of the same transfer of power from boss to worker. In the US, they talk about “quiet quitting”, a phenomenon where workers show up, but aren’t really putting in the effort. Wealthy or poor: The shocking truth about your neighboursĬrypto is bleeding: Time to buy or last chance to get out? The 40 hour work week is dead: This is the new ‘hard work week’ If you’ve always dreamed of wearing shorts to the office, growing a beard, or asking for an extra afternoon of working from home, this is probably a good time to do so. If you have been considering asking for a payrise but worried about doing so, thinking the boss might say, “Actually, you know what, I might let this person go and find someone else”. The strong labour market means workers are in an extremely powerful position – you’ve never been less likely to be let go. This phenomenon, first brought to my attention by Seek chief economist Matt Cowgill, means it is a wonderful time to have a job. Firms know the labour market is so tight they are desperate to hang onto everyone they have. The words, “Sorry, we’re going to have to let you go” have been spoken very rarely in Australia in the past six months. But what has really fallen at an astonishing rate - to a record-low level - is the number of people who lost their jobs. The number of quitters has actually fallen in the past few months. That’s one sign the job market is in a state of rare buoyancy. ![]() We know the unemployment rate is very low - just 3.4 per cent. ![]()
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