Neither employers nor government will get it right until they start to really think about the way work is structured. As long as it’s 9-5 (or 24/7 if you work in the Federal Government) five days a week, at your
desk, potential workers across more than one demographic will vote with their feet. Single parents will stay at home with their children, baby boomers will simply retire, and the skills shortage will continue and worsen.
Here’s an idea! How about single parents job sharing with 50+ year olds? That way the parents get at least some time with their children, child care costs reduce, boomers get a more flexible work pattern, knowledge and experience get passed on, and employers get the workers they need. Staff retention would probably go up too.
It’s got to be better than trying to squeeze everyone into one way of working. Of course employers and government would have to use their imagination and put some time into getting a system like this right.

What then is to be done? Read my paper: ‘What then is to be done’. I make about 24 proposals but in
essence Job Network goes to be replaced by a small component added to Centrelink to help those who
cannot help themselves, the Tax Office supervises dole payments via a guaranteed minimum income and a four day working week (36 hours) for most workers, at no lost of income, to be financed by the current and masive cost of unemployment, is introduced until 2016 -2018 when the ageing problem may really hit and hours worked may then have to increase. If my proposals are implemented now then all will have some work to do rather than some doing all the work and we don’t end up simply with a cleaver dole queue.

Eva rightly mentions the carpetbagers who have latched on to the unemployment industry. Yes, she’s right. Avoid them like the plague. Their only intention is to gain themselves a highly paid job paid for of course out of money meant for the unemployed.

Marcus L’Estrange
8/7/08