The changing face of public sector employment

While it is easy, and almost a national sport, to criticise the traditional model of public sector employment as being too generous, there is a rationale for its distinctiveness. The career service model that endured for most of the last century was aligned to the bureaucratic form of public administration of that time. As public administration was ‘transformed’ into public sector management through the importing of private sector techniques, so too has public sector employment been varied in pursuit of greater efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness

The Whole Truth: How History can Inform Our Understanding of Ageing Workforces

The ageing of Australian workforces is a universally accepted truth. In recent years the increasing rate of retirements has been a significant contributor to tight labour markets and skills shortages. The ageing workforce is generally linked to the ageing population, and explained in demographic terms – declining fertility/birth-rates and increasing longevity have changed the population profile, and the number of labour market entrants is only just keeping pace with labour market exits. Policy solutions are then developed from this limited demographic explanation. I argue that these demographic explanations are overly simplistic and ignore the historical context, particularly in the public sector environment. Since the 1970s, there have been extensive reforms as public sectors have embraced managerial and contractual philosophies, and radically altered both public management and public sector employment relations. These reforms have led to a double-whammy of reduced employment of younger employee cohorts and increased retention of older employee cohorts. This paper focuses on one part of the reform process related to merit and recruitment policies, in the period up until the late 1980s. I argue that the likely ageing of the workforce as a result of these policies could have been predicted beforehand, or at least identified as they occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, if public services had kept better workforce data and undertaken forecasting of workforce trends. Without understanding these historical explanations, policy solutions will be limited in scope, success and sustainability.The symposium is organised on behalf of AAHANZBS by the Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney, with the financial support of the University’s Faculty of Economics and Business

A Not-So-Gentle Invasion: Changes to Women’s Participation in Public Service Workforces in the 1970s

The increase in women’s workforce participation is one of the most significant changes to labour markets in recent decades. This research considers the timing, circumstances and effects of the policy changes that affected the participation of women in the Queensland public service (QPS). It traces the construction of the barriers to women’s participation in the early 1900s, and the dismantling of those barriers in the 1970s. It argues that the Queensland government had effectively created secondary labour market conditions for its female employees, through policies such as the marriage bar, restrictions on the quantity of female recruits and different career structures for women. Decisions to relax or remove these decisions required more than social acceptance, but also conducive labour market and economic conditions. Once the Queensland government removed demand-side barriers in the early 1970s and offered female employees the same pay and opportunities as male employees, women flocked into the Queensland public service – not slowly and gradually in response to preferences and supply-side choices, but dramatically in a short period. The proportion of female employees in the QPS increased disproportionately compared to the increases in the broader Australian labour market. By 1975, women comprised 60 per cent of all recruits to QPS, providing an early forecast of the proportion of women in the QPS today.The symposium is organised on behalf of AAHANZBS by the Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney, with the financial support of the University’s Faculty of Economics and Business

The Whole Truth: How History can Inform Our Understanding of Ageing Workforces

The ageing of Australian workforces is a universally accepted truth. In recent years the increasing rate of retirements has been a significant contributor to tight labour markets and skills shortages. The ageing workforce is generally linked to the ageing population, and explained in demographic terms – declining fertility/birth-rates and increasing longevity have changed the population profile, and the number of labour market entrants is only just keeping pace with labour market exits. Policy solutions are then developed from this limited demographic explanation. I argue that these demographic explanations are overly simplistic and ignore the historical context, particularly in the public sector environment. Since the 1970s, there have been extensive reforms as public sectors have embraced managerial and contractual philosophies, and radically altered both public management and public sector employment relations. These reforms have led to a double-whammy of reduced employment of younger employee cohorts and increased retention of older employee cohorts. This paper focuses on one part of the reform process related to merit and recruitment policies, in the period up until the late 1980s. I argue that the likely ageing of the workforce as a result of these policies could have been predicted beforehand, or at least identified as they occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, if public services had kept better workforce data and undertaken forecasting of workforce trends. Without understanding these historical explanations, policy solutions will be limited in scope, success and sustainability.The symposium is organised on behalf of AAHANZBS by the Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney, with the financial support of the University’s Faculty of Economics and Business

Assessing HR Strategies for retaining an ageing workforce

An ageing workforce is an issue faced by governments and employers in most western countries (OECD 2005). The generally accepted definition of an aged worker is someone aged 45 years and over (Brooke 2003). At the level of the organisation, a range of HR strategies are recommended to deal with an ageing workforce, including attracting younger workers and retaining ageing workers for longer. Recruiting younger workers changes the demographic structure of the workforce, and is not the focus of this paper. Here we identify potential strategies derived from the literature that could be adopted to retain an existing ageing workforce. We then examine a public sector organisation with an ageing workforce, to assess which strategies have been adopted and to begin to assess how effective these strategies are. We find that the case study organisation adopts many of the HR strategies suggested in the literature, but our preliminary findings suggest that these policies are unlikely to have a positive effect on the retention of ageing workers unless the employees are actively encouraged to use the policies

Public servants working from home during the pandemic: Who gained and who lost?

Employees experienced both advantages and disadvantages while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have examined these impacts on women and those with caring responsibilities; however, little research has examined the impacts on other groups of employees, such as those with a disability or employed on a casual basis. In this article, we focus on the public sector and examine who gained and who lost while working from home, based on a 2020 survey of over 5000 Australian public servants. We have constructed loss and gain indices to measure three elements of a change model, which enables an evaluation of the impacts on various groups of employees. The elements of change management examined are operational areas, performance management, and beliefs and values. To analyse the factors affecting gains and losses, as summarised in the indices, we applied a statistical model estimated using linear regression methods. Our findings reveal that, on average, survey participants experienced a net gain. Families and employees with a disability gained; however, women gained less than men in the first two categories and gained more than men on the beliefs and values category. These findings highlight areas on which public service organisations need to focus as we enter a COVID-normal era

Children’s perceptions of a centrally procured school food program in southwestern Ontario, Canada

Introduction: This qualitative study investigates children’s perceptions of the influences of a Centrally Procured School Food Program on their dietary behaviours and their recommendations on how to improve the program. Methods: The observations of 208 students aged 9 to 14 years (Grades 5–8) at 21 elementary schools were collected through focus groups in 2017/18. The larger intervention consisted of a 10-week program offering daily snacks (i.e. fruit, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, meat alternatives) for elementary school children in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Results: The participants’ overall impressions of the program were positive. They noted reduced hunger, increased energy and improved nutrition. Many children felt that the program changed their dietary patterns at home as well as at school, particularly in terms of eating more fruit and vegetables. The snack program also enabled children to try healthy foods. Conclusion: Most participants considered the program to be beneficial in promoting healthy eating. Participants recommended adding educational activities, expanding the variety of foods and increasing child involvement in selecting and preparing foods

Children’s perceptions of a centrally procured school food program in southwestern Ontario, Canada

Introduction: This qualitative study investigates children’s perceptions of the influences of a Centrally Procured School Food Program on their dietary behaviours and their recommendations on how to improve the program. Methods: The observations of 208 students aged 9 to 14 years (Grades 5–8) at 21 elementary schools were collected through focus groups in 2017/18. The larger intervention consisted of a 10-week program offering daily snacks (i.e. fruit, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, meat alternatives) for elementary school children in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Results: The participants’ overall impressions of the program were positive. They noted reduced hunger, increased energy and improved nutrition. Many children felt that the program changed their dietary patterns at home as well as at school, particularly in terms of eating more fruit and vegetables. The snack program also enabled children to try healthy foods. Conclusion: Most participants considered the program to be beneficial in promoting healthy eating. Participants recommended adding educational activities, expanding the variety of foods and increasing child involvement in selecting and preparing foods