jad n rich

2 out of three permanent jobs created in australia in the last 3 years pay less than $600 a week :scared:

Luckily tho almost half the population are employed on a casual basis.

Taken from a circular from a employment/training agency we employ through.

Bringa plenty of pounds then

ABCDiamond

There must be some jobs paying really good wages then, as the average wage is now $949 pw, or $996 with overtime.

MrsDagboy

1st post said permanent, doesnt mean its fulltime though.

I really dont care what anyone else gets .

kong

I am afraid that FACTS about Australias long hours and low pay culture will be ignored on this forum. I C + P an article about how a hell of a lot of workers in Oz are "casuals". No sick pay/holiday pay/bank holiday pay and you can be dismissed with no notice whatsoever.

People just want to hear about big houses and beaches, not day to day financial struggles. It came as a shock when I was in Oz to see men who had benn "casual" for about 5 years. A lot of "casuals" are laid off for days at a time when work is slow, I don't know how many can survive in this situation as rent and bills have to be paid still on that "nice big ouse". I didnt hear any of them say "oh well I may be broke and can only afford 2 min noodles for dinner, but at least I got the beach".

Peter

Name one place where people don't have financial struggles? I mean real places too Kong, not Atlantis or Utopia.

Bix da Boss

You have made some very good, realistic points here.

I'm sure that a lot of us will take notice of some of what you say, keeping our feet firmly on the ground - it is a good thing not a bad thing Kong.

Every country have 'casual' workers who have few or no benefits, and jobs with very long hours, but some are worse than others.

I honestly think its easy to become ignorant about what is happening in your own country unless it effects you in some way - so when you move to another country all of those issues become paramount as everything is so new to you and you take more notice.

A good beach anywhere does not make up for being broke - but it helps

kong

Name one country that doesnt have financial struggles????

NONE

However there is little doubt that under Johnny Howard there has been an explosion in the number of "casual" jobs which offer no guaranteed pay or hours and bugger all employment rights. In the UK "temp" jobs exist through agencies, most workers use this method to "get a foot in the door" prove their worth and go permenant after 3 months and get all the perks such as 20-25 days paid holiday sick pay etc. I do not know anyone who would wish to work as a casual for years on end, unfortuntely in Oz a lot of people have a choice of being exploited as a casual or the dole.

Sadly for the POM refugees, they are not entitled to dole for 2 years, so may well end up working "as and when" required and could well find that the wages do not cover rent/bills/food/car costs etc.

Still, theres always the beach....Especially useful on a cold windy day in August.

Don

You having an 'off' day?

bundy

I worked in Oz for a year and felt pretty well done by as an employee. I earned a decent enough wage for what I was doing (camp oven cook on a sheep station ). I got paid triple time for working public holidays, paid sick leave when I was off with flu, got paid leave even though I was only there for less than a year. No complaints. Maybe that will change once I'm out there and trying to start a career.

ABCDiamond

Casual workers rates of pay are higher than permanent workers as it includes a % component to include sick pay, holiday pay, etc. So they do in fact get paid these benefits. I've done payrolls here in Australia, and I have seen it first hand.


a cut and paste here: (Not my words, just something from a paper)
Being a casual works just fine
Christine Jackman, Social affairs writer
April 02, 2003
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...E25232,00.html

MOST casual workers are satisfied with their jobs, do not feel insecure about the future and are happier with their pay rates than other employees.

A study based on figures from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey of almost 13,000 Australians challenges union claims casual workers suffer poor working conditions, lower rates of pay and greater job insecurity.

But HILDA project director Mark Wooden said those concerns were overstated.

"The unions will say these guys have been duped, they don't know what they are missing out on," Professor Wooden, of the Melbourne Institute, said. "But these are things the unions value highly, they are not necessarily things these employees say they value highly."

Asked to rate their job satisfaction on a scale of one to 10, casual workers gave an average rating of 7.5, compared with permanent workers' 7.6.

Casuals were happier than permanents with their rates of pay (6.8 for casuals and 6.7 for permanents) and the flexibility of their jobs (7.7 to 7.3).

They fared less well on the issue of job security, rating that category at 7.1, compared with permanents' 8.1.

But almost half of all casuals said they had "zero chance" of being sacked in the next 12 months.

On average, the casuals said it was more likely they would quit in that time than be sacked, only 5 per cent reporting they had been unemployed at any time in the past 12 months.

The average time spent in a casual job was 2.6 years, compared with 4.4 years for employees on fixed-term contracts and 7.3 for those in permanent, ongoing jobs.

But more than half of female casuals (57.3 per cent) and almost half of males (46.3 per cent) had the option of permanent part-time work in their workplace but had not taken it.

moneypenny20

Kong, you not listening mate, everyone keeps telling you that they do want to hear the negatives as much as the positives, what they don't need is cut and paste articles from years back. From all the threads I've read, everyone seems ready to put effort in and not expecting roads paved with gold.

Hels

There is a HUGE "casual" lifestyle here in the UK as well....Its called temping...

Its amazed me the career temps that are out there, especially when here they usually earn less than the permanent staff and although entitled to holidays, rarely receive any from the agencies as it effects their bottom line..

And no, its not all Aussies/NZ/South African travellers....there is a heck of a lot of locals that do nothing but temp....they are lucky if they even get OT if they work weekends...let alone double time and triple time....

Just my experience sinced being here....

Grayling

I have been keeping an eye on Nursing Job adverts in Australia for the past couple of years.

What is striking is that the number of jobs advertised on a casual basis is increasing.
There is no shortage of work but it means that employers do not have added 'on costs'. It also means that casuals can be employed on the grade that suits the employer.

This is not always bad as it would suit me as I don't intend to work much anyway. It is ,however, difficult to run a home on that basis if it is your only income.
I would suggest that Nurses should find themselves a permanent, contracted job before they go as they may initially have to work on a casual basis in some areas.

G

diddy

Despite the arguments of some, very few of us are heading to, or are in, Oz expecting it to be a bed of roses.

I have no doubt that it's gonna be tough for a while when we arrive.

Modern Australia was built on migrants and pioneers, which is the attitude that prevails today.

Unfortunately, some people just aren't tough enough to make it there.

Paul.

Grayling

Paul
I think that kind of statement is a bit provocative and a bit too simplistic.
Migration is not supposed to be some sort of Antipodean 'Big Brother' contest.
Most people say they are going to improve their standard of living not to be 'Great white hunters' or frontiersmen.

It also does not explain the number of Australian professionals who leave to improve their lot.

My son is an engineer in Australia. He used to share a house with some other young engineers in Brisbane. They were Australians and have all left to work in England to 'earn some proper money' and to improve their CVs.

I recently met some contractors working on the Karuah bypass in NSW. They were living away from home and were 'doing it for the money'.They were being paid about $850 a week and thought that was a lot as the most they could earn in their home towns (Orange and Bathurst) would be about $500 a week which they though would be about the average wage. These men were not labourers.
The Australian working life can be tough for some.

G