SIXTY-SIX per cent of mid-sized Australian businesses acknowledge they are facing a shortage of skilled labour while 84 per cent would pay more to get the right people if a shortage of skilled labour led to increased wages
SIXTY-SIX per cent of mid-sized Australian businesses acknowledge they are facing a shortage of skilled labour while 84 per cent would pay more to get the right people if a shortage of skilled labour led to increased wages. Skilled labour shortages were most prevalent in:
Western Australia 100%
South Australia 82%
Queensland 73%
A further 46 per cent of mid-sized businesses expected staff levels to increase in 2005, while 40 per cent predicted they would remain the same.
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Bosses take time out to meditate
NINETEEN per cent of Australian bosses take time out daily to meditate, a survey of 70 business decision-makers has found, while a further 53 per cent use meditation to get through difficult situations.
Source: Dattner Grant
Aussies put in the long hours
ONE quarter of Australian workers put in more than 45 hours a week at work, but almost 10 per cent of employees are set to quit their jobs. A national survey found workers who were most likely to put in more than 45 hours at work every week resided in:
Northern Territory 29%
Western Australia 27%
Queensland 27%
Furthermore, about 60 per cent of people who worked more than 45 hours are employees and about 35 per cent are owner-managers.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Criminal offence for bosses to snoop and spy
EIGHTY-TWO per cent of Australians believe there are mitigating circumstances where employers should have the right to spy on their staff. A survey of 768 people found 58 per cent feel it should be a criminal offence for employers to use video cameras and tracking devices to spy on their staff while a further 68 per cent said snooping on employees is a necessary measure to protect legitimate company interests.
Source: Talent2
Beauty climbs career ladder faster than brains
TWO-THIRDS of women in the UK believe attractive but tough-minded females have an easier time climbing the career ladder, a poll of 600 women has found. Furthermore, men in senior posts outnumbered women by more than three to one and women directors usually worked in industries such as health and social services, but were severely under-represented in other sectors such as finance.
Source: handbag.com
Cultural roadblocks to flexible working
THIRTY-NINE per cent of women experience an implicit resistance to flexible working as a result of their company’s culture, according to a recent US study. It also found that 21 per cent believe that requesting non-standard working arrangements can be detrimental to promotion opportunities while 19 per cent say cultural or attitudinal barriers prevent them from using the parental leave they are entitled to and men encounter greater resistance than women when it comes to flexible working.
Source: Harvard Business Review
No thanks for hard work
SIXTEEN per cent of bosses never thank their employees while 34 per cent of senior managers never receive any thanks for the work they do. A survey of more than 1,000 employees found 28 per cent of workers don’t receive any feedback at all from their employer, while 43 per cent only receive feedback at formal reviews, 7 per cent cop a verbal serve when disasters happen and only 8 per cent receive compliments when things go well.
Source: Talent2
Germans the world’s most pessimistic workers
FIFTEEN per cent of German workers believe there is a chance they could lose their job in the coming year and 97 per cent predict a laid-off worker would have difficulty finding a new job. A global survey of 9,137 full-time workers in 18 countries also found Norway is home to the world’s most confident workers, with only 3.6 percent reporting they could lose their jobs this year.
Source: Right Management Consultants
US: Employee commitment on the rise
SIXTY-FOUR per cent of workers feel a strong sense of commitment to their organisation, while 73 per cent are confident their organisation will be successful in the future. A survey of more than 800 US organisations also found workers were confident about their:
Job security 65%
Long-term career objectives 52%
Organisation’s management 49%
Furthermore, 84 per cent are satisfied with the type of work they do, 69 per cent are satisfied with their jobs and 66 per cent are satisfied with their organisations.
Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting
CEOs depart at record levels
FORTY-TWO per cent of CEO successions at European companies were related to performance, compared with 31 per cent in the US, a global study of 2,500 public corporations has found. Overall, underperforming CEOs were removed after an average of 4.5 years in 2004. In Europe, CEOs removed for poor performance were in office for a brief 2.5 years while boards in the US were the slowest to remove underperforming CEOs, at 5.2 years.
Source: Booz Allen Hamilton
Workers prefer laptops over cars
EIGHTY per cent of workers would like a laptop as their preferred discretionary benefit, a US survey of 944 employees and managers has found. While only 28 per cent wanted a company car, other perks they wanted from their next employer included:
Ongoing training opportunities 77%
Flexi-time 67%
Tuition reimbursement 52%
Source: Lee Hecht Harrison
