SEVENTY-EIGHT per cent of Australians believe publicly listed companies perform better than private companies
SEVENTY-EIGHT per cent of Australians believe publicly listed companies perform better than private companies. A survey of 860 workers also found they think publicly listed companies perform better when it comes to:
Corporate governance 20%
Transparency 10%
Training 5%
The survey also found 67 per cent of workers believe private companies are better to work for than their publicly listed counterparts because they have easier decision-making processes, are more personalised, less corporate and have less formal procedures.
Source: Talent2
Absenteeism hitting UK businesses hard
EIGHTY-ONE per cent of UK employers complain that absenteeism is damaging their businesses financially, with 79 per cent of employers noticing a leap in the past 12 months. A poll of 1,286 UK companies found 76 per cent experienced increased absenteeism during 2005, compared with 64 per cent in 2004 and 56 per cent in 2000.
Source: Peninsula
Good news for career mothers …
SIXTY-EIGHT per cent of Australian companies offer flexible working hours to support working mothers. A survey of 74 finance managers and 76 HR managers found options companies provide for mothers returning to the workforce after childbirth include:
Job sharing 32%
Part-time work 55%
Working from home 35%
Australian companies didn’t rate as well as other countries when it came to child care allowance, with 3 per cent of Australian companies providing this compared to 11 per cent globally.
Source: Robert Half Finance and Accounting
Overseas-born workers in professional roles
TWENTY per cent of people living in Australia were born overseas, and nearly 33 per cent of residents in Sydney or Melbourne speak a language other than English as their first at home. Furthermore, people working in Australia who were born overseas are more likely to be working in professional or managerial jobs.
Source: Culture Resource Centre
Impressive growth expected in job market
EMPLOYMENT is expected to grow by 1.25 per cent over the next three months, with over 100,000 new jobs for Australians in the third quarter of 2005. Of these 61,421 are expected to be full time and 28,507 casual. A survey of 3,285 Australian companies found 46 per cent said business expansion was driving their recruitment plans, signalling business confidence remains strong.
Source: Drake
UK companies progress car policies
SEVENTY per cent of UK companies offer employees the choice between a company car and a cash allowance. A survey of 245 British companies also found car use depends on workplace status. For example, 94 per cent of company heads can use their cars for business and personal purposes compared with 47 per cent of sales representatives and 35 per cent of professionals.
Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Australians aspire to be their own boss
FIFTY-FOUR per cent of Australian workers say they would like to be their own boss and aspire to owning their own business. Satisfaction is the motivation most give for wanting to be their own boss, with independence coming second. A further 59 per cent of workers would definitely not open a business within the same industry in which they currently work.
Source: Talent2
US adopting wellness programs to cut health costs
FORTY-THREE per cent of American companies have adopted formal disease management and health promotion/wellness strategies for employees. Another 19 per cent have been asked by senior management to explore opportunities associated with these programs. Furthermore, obesity, fitness and chronic heart disease are top concerns for HR departments as senior management begins to embrace a more holistic approach to managing rising health care costs.
Source: Aon
Desperately seeking engineers
THE NUMBER of engineering job vacancies advertised nationally has jumped to almost 20 per cent, with strong demand for civil/structural, electrical and mechanical engineers. The strongest increases in demand for engineers were in:
Queensland 75%
Victoria 40%
New South Wales 25%
Demand in Western Australia was more subdued for the quarter, although a 40 per cent rise in the number of mining production vacancies was recorded for the three months to June.
Source: RPRN Engineering
Satisfaction nearly guaranteed for American workers
NEARLY eight out of every 10 employees in the US are satisfied with their jobs, with benefits, compensation and work/life balance the most important factors in their overall job satisfaction. A survey of 505 HR professionals also found women and workers younger than 35 believe work/life balance is the most important part of job satisfaction, while workers over the age of 56 do not rate work/life balance as important when it comes to job satisfaction.
Source: Society for Human Resource Management
Contractors and temps make a splash
TWENTY per cent of employers increased their contracting and temporary workforce over the June quarter. This continues the growth of the past three years and has led to a net effect of 20 per cent of employers increasing their contract or temporary workforce. The sectors which recorded the highest level of optimism for the September quarter are:
