Updated March 01, 2017 19:05:57

Photo: Australians are increasingly insecure and stressed in the workplace. (Flickr: Anne-Sophie Leens)

If you've never felt insecure, you're very lucky.

It comes in all aspects of our life — our health, in relationships and with our work.

It's just one of those things. From an early age we have to accept that there are no guarantees in life.

The degree to which we feel insecurity though can be heightened by our circumstances.

I remember when the planes hit the World Trade Centre in 2001, I felt very insecure about my work. I was a stockbroker at the time. The phones rang off the hook that morning. Mum and dad investors couldn't sell their shares fast enough.

The managing director did his daily tour of the trading floor later that day and looked very grim indeed. He realised that while the calls may keep coming tomorrow, that would be it for a long while. Business was about to dry up.

I lost my job around four weeks later. It was my first redundancy. It felt awful. I wouldn't find a full-time work again until April of the following year.

Right now, millions of Australians are feeling some level of job insecurity, and it's hurting.

But the economy's creating jobs, right?

Sputtering economic engine

In economics we talk all the time about "job creation". It's a very abstract term though, isn't it? I mean, how do you create a job out of thin air?

What happens if everything that can go wrong for Australia's economy does so all at once in 2017? asks Michael Janda.

Often, it's to do with demand. For instance, if the local fish and chips shop is overwhelmed by customers at the beach, the manager may want to build an extra till. That way the shop can process more customers... and voila! A job is created.

More broadly though, masses of jobs are created simultaneously when the economy grows faster.

What do I mean by that? Well the Australian economy is currently growing at around 2 per cent per annum. That's about fast enough to keep the unemployment rate steady, but it's not fast enough to create lots of new jobs. To create jobs, it needs to grow at least 2.5 to 3 per cent per annum.

The economy isn't growing fast enough for a whole bunch of reasons, but the big picture is that we haven't been able to transition as smoothly as we would have liked from the mining boom, to an economy being driven by a number of different sectors.

The rise of the part-timer

The sectors of the economy that have enjoyed increased activity are healthcare, hospitality, and tourism. These sectors tend to be biased towards hiring part-time workers.

Nine2Three Employment Solutions in Sydney's Sutherland Shire specialises in placing candidates into part-time roles. Managing director, Kathryn MacMillan, say business is booming. Right now, she's placing job seekers into part-time roles including mining, tourism, retail, clerical and accounts-type roles, sales roles and business development.

Photo: The Australian economy is not growing fast enough to create lots of new jobs. (ABC: Glyn Jones)

Ms MacMillan explained to me that she's placing lots of mums re-entering the workforce, and people after just a few days of work a week. Part-time work can also be convenient for students, and for those returning to the workforce after an illness or injury.

You can't ignore, however, the hundreds of thousands of Australians over the past 12 months that have either lost their job, or would dearly like to work more (to help pay the mortgage, utility bills etc.).

We know, for instance, the economy shed 53,000 full-time positions in September last year. Another 44,800 full-time jobs disappeared in January.

It's really quite straight forward. The Australian economy is transitioning, and many workers are getting left behind.

Remember the kids' game, musical chairs? Everyone has a seat to start with. That was the mining boom. The music started playing during the financial crisis, and now that it's stopped, we've noticed quite a few chairs have been taken away. We're now seeing two or three people trying to squeeze onto the same chair in many cases!

Working more for less

Darren Coppin is the chief executive of Esher House. His company spits out all sorts of interest research. He told me recently that this big economic transition has also ignited a bit of a social change.

It's a familiar scene in many workplaces: taking a lunch break no longer means leaving your desk.

He explained to me that 30 years ago the man did most of the paid-for work (40 hours a week). Since then millions of women have entered the workforce. During the 1980s and 1990s both men and women were working more, and earning more (excluding the recession).

Recently, however, the economy's been unable to sustain those jobs.

Now, women tend to be working 25 hours a week, while men also work 25 hours a week (in trend terms). So, overall, the household is working more, but because both jobs may not be strictly full-time, the actual combined take-home pay at the end of the day is less.

So yes, you guessed it, overall we're working more, for less pay.

Record low wages growth is also rubbing salt into the wound.

Time for dad to put on the apron

Anecdotally I've met quite a lot of people who are doing their best to make the best of a bad situation.

Many couples with children, for instance, have decided to work nine-day fortnights. That means mum or dad takes one day off each week. That day's devoted to running errands, and, of course, child care... and cooking.

I spoke to a single mum last month who told me she felt quite isolated. She said she spends all of her waking hours working and looking after her child, with no time left over for friends, because the bills keep piling up (child care and rent being the ones that hurt).

Struggle street

There has been a mixed response from retail and hospitality workers likely to be affected by penalty rates changes.

While many Australians are working out how to get by, too many are really struggling.

I spoke to a few people last week who told me the decision by the Fair Work Commission to scrap Sunday penalty rate had been a kick in guts.

Mandy Carr, for example, a retail worker on Queensland's Gold Coast, had decided to return to work (post maternity leave) on the Sunday shift so she and her husband could get ahead financially.

She says the decision will cost her $100 each and every week.

Pressure cooker

Granted, some Australians are living the dream right now. They own their own home, have a good job, plenty of super, and their coveted end of year holiday. That's great. Really.

There are too many Australians though that are angry... really angry.

They're upset because they'd desperately like to make a go of life. They want a home, and enough money on the side to give their kids opportunities in life. But they're being held back by a job that doesn't offer them enough in terms of hours and/or pay, and the cost of living keeps rising.

There's also the emotional toll that workers face with heightened job insecurity, combined with ever-increasing debt repayments.

The Reserve Bank governor told a Parliamentary Committee last week that the situation households face (having to cut back on spending because of rising costs and low wages) is "sobering".

The recognition of the problem is heartening. At this very moment though, recognising the problem is all we seem to be doing.

Topics: work, community-and-society, business-economics-and-finance, social-policy, australia

First posted March 01, 2017 06:09:04