HRMT11011 Essay: Australian Workforce and Changing Nature of Work

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the changing face of work in Australia, examining the influence of socio-demographic, technological, and environmental trends. It explores the impact of factors such as an aging population, the rise of the gig economy, and advancements in technology on job design, employee engagement, and retention. The essay highlights the challenges faced by employers and employees, including issues related to industrial relations, workplace disputes, and union activity. It also discusses the implications of increasing incomes and consumption patterns on job creation and the importance of adapting HRM practices to address these evolving dynamics. The essay draws upon various academic sources to support its arguments and offers insights into the future of work in Australia.

Human Resource Management

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“Changing Face of Work in Australia”
The Australian workforce and nature of work are constant to change due to trends like
socio-demographical, environmental and technological. The workplaces in Australia are
becoming more diverse with the growing number of older Australians working for longer.
Such diversity is also taking place due to the fact that Australians tend to live longer and
more of the years lived are liberal from the different restrictions on their routine activities. In
the case of men, average life expectancy is 79 years of age whereas women are anticipated to
live almost 84 years. Almost all of such years are free of infirmity. It indicates that
Australians generally require to work longer in order to assist themselves and save for
retirement. The Australian workplaces are also becoming progressively enthusiastic for the
offerings by the older Australians as the workforce. Moreover, the organizations concentrated
on aged women’s employments are future-proofing their employees and positioning the
organization for efficiency (Noe, et al. 2017).
The rapid leap of change, innovative technologies, globalization, enthusiasm for
greater work control, robotics and shift in the industry have made advancements in the kind
of work in which Australians are involved. The advent of the gig economy has been
characterized by short-term and momentary work engagements. The technology in the
Australian workplaces has facilitated the progression along with offering platforms for
contracting for work. The retail sector has been also distorted through the usage of the
internet. The consumer demands for the online retailing has reshaped the industry. The
advancement made in technology is assisting and hampering working lives (Myerson &
Bichard, 2016). The technological advancement generally makes work easier but also de-
enrich job roles, declines wages, and upsurges work intensity and demands. As long as the
international economy is continuing to change, the disruption in the technology will be
experienced more. Therefore, the job prospects accessible to Australians will be constant to
change. There is growth in the non-standard work and casualization of the labor workers. The
individuals desire to work in casual working hours but the large organizations are depending
more on the casual workforce. Although the people generally hired are desiring more
permanent work arrangements. On the other side, varying nature of work and the methods
work is organized and performed has formed different challenges. Such changes have
increased control and flexibility in the labor market. It has even increased the risk of mass
exploitation of workers mainly those whoa re young and born abroad. The factors like self-
employment, casual work, freelance work, and fixed-term contracts have generated an

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augmented risk of susceptibility and acquaintance to poor working conditions (Howard &
Williams, 2017).
The trends influencing the varying nature of work in Australia are increasing incomes
and consumption, aging populations and advancement and deployment of technology. It has
been experienced that international consumption can cultivate by $23 trillion in the period of
2015-2030. In such concern, the majority is suspected to come from the increasing middle
class in Australia. As the income is increasing, the customers often spend more on all the
groups although the spending patterns are also shifting (Owens, et al. 2016). The more jobs
have been created in concerns like leisure activities, consumer products, housing, financial
and telecommunication services, healthcare, housing, and education. Due to the increase in
incomes, new jobs have been created. On the other side, the aging population is also shaping
the future of work (Murphy, et al. 2018). As people are aging, they are likely to spend more
on healthcare along with personal services. It will form substantial demand for a range of
professions comprising nurses, doctors and health technicians along with home health and
personal care aides in Australia. The advancement and deployment of technology have led to
an increase in jobs concerning development. It comprises of engineers, computer scientists,
and IT administrators. The entire spending on technology will also enhance by over 50% in
the coming ten years. Almost half of the IT services both in-house IT workers within and
outside the organization. The number of workers employed in IT companies is less as
compared to healthcare or construction. Although these are high-wage occupations. In the
coming years, the advancement and disposition of technology can form a 20-50 million job
(Heywood & Laurence, 2018).
The HRM implication to the trends influencing the nature of work in Australia is job
design, engagement, and retention. The increasing income of the workers is a major trend in
influencing the changing nature of work in Australia. The job design has a great role in
deciding the income of the workers. The workers are paid as per the tasks assigned to them.
The jobs are allocated with specifying method, content, and link of the job to gratify
technological and organizational necessities along with the personal requirements of the
jobholders. The job design anticipates employees to perform within a specific period. The
employees identify the tasks which need completion. The motivation works as a force that is
liable for the direction and perseverance of the effort. The reward systems also have a great
role in job design. The rewards comprise job security, bonuses, compensation and benefits
which are greatly linked with the increasing income and consumption of the workers (Patel,

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et al. 2018). On the other side, retention is having implications concerning the aging
population. The aging population has a significant role in the organization's success. The
retention program ensures to maintain balance within job performance and productivity. The
workplaces can substantially attain benefit from employee retention due to a direct effect on
the employer’s strategies. The employees working in the organization for a long time are also
likely to benefit the organization for a longer period of time. The employees enjoying the
atmosphere are also anticipated to remain employed and enjoy for an extended period.
Finally, job engagement is made through the advancement and deployment of technology
(Talley, 2016). The employees feel regard to the work and it is made possible through the
advancement and deployment of technology. Employee satisfaction can be improved through
increased performance. The performance can be accomplished through the advancement of
technology. It has been observed that satisfied employees lead to enhanced performance.
Such employees improve along with challenging status quo. The engaged employees are held
liable for offering optimum results. The workplace with engaged employees outperforms the
competition. It even leads to key differentiation when it comes to growth and innovation
(Bryant, et al. 2018).
All the workplaces in Australia are changing. The range of issues faced by the
employers and employee are different. The uberisation influences to the delivery of the
services comprised in the recruitment. It responds to the aging personnel along with social
and demographic changes. The range of issues faced by employers and employees are
apparently endless. The technology is constant to essentially transform and also in some cases
disrupt the way employees work. The changes in technology have even resulted in the
changes to the skill confirmation of several workplaces. The industrial relations are
concentrated on collective rights and compulsions. The issues are faced by employers and
employees in managing workplace change. The Fair Work (FW) Act will be pragmatic to the
foremost workplace change. Executing change and meeting session responsibilities with the
dispersed employees in the flexible work frameworks necessitate clear and rigorous
communication along with the engagement strategies (Bui, Zeng & Higgs, 2017). Accessing
with the personnel who are not available and do not constantly attend employer’s sites and
vindicating the contrary impacts on the employees on the flexible arrangements will
necessitate careful planning and particular implementation. Other than this, the issue is also
faced by employers and employees in the workplace to deal with the disputes. The procedure
of tackling workplace disputes generally offers for holding discussions at the workplace. The

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disputes escalate to the senior levels and comprise employee representatives (Sathianathen, et
al. 2018). It is made sure that the steps are properly followed when individuals can be diverse
at different work locations (Beer, et al. 2016). On the other side, the issue is also faced by
employers and employees in the form of union activity. The unions have a major role in
communicating and managing employees by delegates at the workplace. The unions hold
meetings at the workplaces through the right of entry and are comprised of the workplace
disputes. The dispersed workplaces indicate that such methods are least effective and
probable outdated (Sim, Sunderland & Hattingh, 2019). The unions also make efforts in
meeting the challenges of work. When union activity increases online, the employers will be
required to make sure that their strategies correctly deal with the punitive action against the
people breaching such policies.

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References
Beer, A., Bentley, R., Baker, E., Mason, K., Mallett, S., Kavanagh, A., & LaMontagne, T.
(2016). Neoliberalism, economic restructuring and policy change: Precarious housing
and precarious employment in Australia. Urban studies, 53(8), 1542-1558.
Bryant, L., Garnham, B., Tedmanson, D., & Diamandi, S. (2018). Tele-social work and
mental health in rural and remote communities in Australia. International Social
Work, 61(1), 143-155.
Bui, H. T., Zeng, Y., & Higgs, M. (2017). The role of person-job fit in the relationship
between transformational leadership and job engagement. Journal of Managerial
Psychology, 32(5), 373-386.
Heywood, T., & Laurence, C. (2018). An overview of the general practice nurse workforce in
Australia, 2012–15. Australian journal of primary health, 24(3), 227-232.
Howard, A., & Williams, C. (2017). Succession and success: New generation capacity
building in social work education Australia. Advances in Social Work and Welfare
Education, 19(1), 10.
Murphy, B., Hoppe, K., Gibbs, C., Ratnaike, D., & Lovelock, H. (2018). Change in clinical
practice in Australia: impact of participation in MHPN webinars. Journal of
Integrated Care, 26(2), 101-108.
Myerson, J., & Bichard, J. A. (2016). New demographics new workspace: Office design for
the changing workforce. Routledge.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Owens, B. P., Baker, W. E., Sumpter, D. M., & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Relational energy at
work: Implications for job engagement and job performance. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 101(1), 35.

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Patel, P., Sinha, P., Bhanugopan, R., Boyle, B., & Bray, M. (2018). The transfer of HRM
practices from emerging Indian IT MNEs to their subsidiaries in Australia: The MNE
diamond model. Journal of Business Research, 93, 268-279.
Sathianathen, N. J., Lamb, A. D., Lawrentschuk, N. L., Goad, J. R., Peters, J., Costello, A.
J., ... & Moon, D. A. (2018). Changing face of robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy in
Melbourne over 12 years. ANZ journal of surgery, 88(3), E200-E203.
Sim, T. F., Sunderland, B., & Hattingh, H. L. (2019). Exploring influences on pharmacists’
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Talley, N. J. (2016). The changing face of the MJA. The Medical journal of
Australia, 204(8), 283.