Australian Unemployment: Ethical Dimensions and Policy Implications

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRALIA
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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRALIA
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Summary..........................................................................................................................................3
Own Decision Making Process........................................................................................................5
Application of ethical and moral philosophies................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
The moral principles that guide us the way a business behaves is called business ethics. Working
in an ethical manner helps us in recognizing the unethical business principles and differentiating
between the right and the wrong principles. It is related to the moral judgments of a person. In
any place, an unethical situation can provoke someone to take a wrong decision (Crane and
Matten, 2016). For this case study, we have selected a news article about the rising
unemployment rate in Australia, which is putting a pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia to
improve the job markets for management of economy, which in turn is an ethical issue. Here, we
will analyze how employment issue can be curbed and the pressure on RBA can be reduced to a
certain extent in an ethical scenario by our own decision making process and by ethical moral
philosophies.
Summary
The article is dealing with the fact of unemployment rate that prevails in Australia. The rate of
unemployment rate is around 5.2pc which is ultimately putting RBA under more pressure for
cutting rates. This made the Australian dollar to fall below 0.6% compared to US cents which is
very much low from the last three years. However, the article suggest that Reserve Bank of
Australia (RBA) could make out that more people are looking for jobs which is a positive thing
and is hitting a fresh record of 65.8% during the month of April, 2019. This is being backed by
rapid growth in the wage rate (ABC News. 2019).
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According to the article, there are 703,000 Australian people who are out of work but jobs were
being created at regular intervals of time. This led to an ethical issue which constituted to
unethical practice in terms of employment rate in the workplaces of Australia.
Image 1: Unemployment rate vs. Jobs crested
Source: (ABC News. 2019)
The data that was collected from the above graph was not a good news for the workers who were
looking for pay rise. This is one of the major ethical issues where the workers are not getting
their deserved payment. This is many because of the fact which is being stated by RBA that lack
of improvement in the labor market is the main factor behind this ethical issue which rising in
the workplace of Australia. This detoriation in the wage rate is the main reason behind the
unemployment rate. The unemployment is hitting the economy very badly and if this continues,
then many Australian economists suggest that it would be very much difficult to bring the
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unemployment rate below 5% mark. Thus, making the RBA to hold rates which could increase
the inflation rates much higher than expected.
Inage 2: State by state employment rate
Source: (ABC News. 2019)
The figure from the above source suggest that the Australian economy is very much briefed by
two speed nature where the job markets of New South Wales and Victoria is enjoying a good and
significant position in the job markets of Australia. Further, unemployment rate rose significantly
in every market except the markets of Queensland. The unemployment rate in the markets of
Queensland is under 6%, which helped people to look for work. The strongest two states where
the employment rate was higher fell very badly due to fall in the downturn housing market. Thus,
from this article, it is clear that unemployment rate backed by poor wage rate is the biggest
ethical issues which is arousing at an alarming rate and making RBA to decrease the rates of
Australian dollar compared to USA dollar.
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Own Decision Making Process
The unemployment rate has risen up to 5.2% as per April records that was 5.1% in the previous
month; presently 703,000 people are out of work. It can be said that the unemployment rate is
increasing very fast in Australia (Kennedy et al., 2017). The reason for such unemployment can
be various unethical practices practiced in the organisations that are hampering the business
entities of the country. During the work period, employees are required to contribute to the state
unemployment insurance tax fund, which is controlled by business owners, but many refuse to
contribute to such funds. Many organizations discharge their employees on the basis that they
left the organization on their will, hence they avoid providing them any unemployment benefits
even if they have contributed earlier for that fund (Argy and Nevile, 2016). The employees
should be given options based on their own decision whether they want to join or leave the
organization or take a leave, which reduces turnover rates and controls tax rates of the country.
Many unemployed youths, who are capable to get a good position in the job, market is often not
getting the correct opportunity. This is due to unethical social discussions, beliefs and practices
within the organization, which in turn is increasing the unemployment rate. The social as well as
economic lifestyle of a country is devastated and affected by unemployment, as it creates a
negative impact on the minds of the youths and the unemployed forcing them to follow unethical
practices like drug addiction and depression. Nevertheless, it can turn good and ethical for many
other unemployed youths as mentality varies. They can take their failure as a positive fact and go
about in correcting their defects for better future prospects. Modern technology and improvement
is also leading employed people to lose their jobs and be unemployed. The Reserve Bank of
Australia has pointed out that in many places the employment rate has increased but in some
places, especially Queensland the employment rate is decreasing drastically (Mavromaras et al,
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2015). The RBA should look into the matter and find out the reasons for such causes. More
employment, job opportunities and vacancies must be created to employ youths. It is to be seen
that no unethical practice is followed in such recruitment. The government should look into the
matter and take proper decisions based on social responsibility principles so that there is no
pressure on RBA on meeting economy goals (Gregory and Smith, 2016). It is also to be seen
that the currency rates should not increase much otherwise the economy will be at stake, for that
it is important to check the unemployment by taking proper decisions by the governments and
concerned authorities.
Application of ethical and moral philosophies
The problem of unethical practice in terms of wage rate in Australian job market could be solved
by social justice theory or philosophies (Asch, 2017). This will help RBA to bring the overall
pattern of proper wage distribution within the job market in accordance with the principles of the
society. However, the RBA needs to make certain assumptions for solving issues through social
justice theory i.e. 1) social processes are being governed by the broad and discoverable laws 2)
government should act as a reshaping power (Crichlow, 2015). Thus, the two assumptions states
that material rewards should be corresponding to the scale of merit possessed by the worker and
second one suggest that wages should be distributed according to the needs of the people which
will ultimately satisfy the needs of the employees. The main idea is to create an atmosphere of
equality where mutual respect prevails and are given equal importance for safeguarding the
interest rate of the workers (Bell and Adams, 2016).
Ethical relativism is another way which could be used to solve the ethical problems related to
unemployment rate within Australia. The relativism theory surrounds around the morality which
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dictates the norms of the culture (Pearson, 2016). This decides whether an action is right or
wrong and it tends to depends on the norms that the society practices. In the context of
unemployment rate in Australia, this theory can easily describe the ethical problems that are
leading to unemployment rate in Australia (Pearson, 2017). Thus, it will allow having a better
morality over the cultures that prevails in the workplace of Australian organizations. However,
there may be no common framework which might solve the moral disputes so that an agreement
can be reached in terms of solving moral disputes among the workers. Further, theorists may
reject the theory as they find that that the moral practices that will be undertaken to solve
problem in Australia may differ according to the principles undertaken by different states.
Hence, ethical values within the societies may differ and the moral beliefs may not be agreed
upon in a significant manner (Fryer, 2016).
Conclusion
Unemployment is an alarming issue in Australia in the recent times. It is posing as a cause of
concern for the government as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia. The unemployment issue
should be curbed at the earliest or otherwise, the economic status of the country will misbalance.
The various issues that are raised because of unethical practices should be mitigated as fast as
possible. Own decision-making process analyzes how ethical judgments can be analyzed to come
at a proper solution. Ethical moral philosophies used in this study provide an insight to the moral
principles to be followed to solve the problem. Such issue must be taken into consideration at the
earliest for improving the global economic scenario.
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References
ABC News. (2019). Rising unemployment may be getting close to Reserve Bank's 'pain
threshold'. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-16/unemployment-and-
employment-april-2019/11118482?section=business [Accessed 16 May 2019].
Argy, V.E. and Nevile, J., 2016. Inflation and Unemployment: Theory, Experience and Policy
Making. Routledge.
Asch, A., 2017. Critical race theory, feminism, and disability: Reflections on social justice and
personal identity. In Disability and Equality Law (pp. 143-176). Routledge.
Bell, L.A. and Adams, M., 2016. Theoretical foundations for social justice education.
In Teaching for diversity and social justice (pp. 21-44). Routledge.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Crichlow, W., 2015. Critical race theory: A strategy for framing discussions around social justice
and democratic education.
Fryer, M., 2016. A role for ethics theory in speculative business ethics teaching. Journal of
business ethics, 138(1), pp.79-90.
Gregory, R.G. and Smith, R.E., 2016. 15 Unemployment, Inflation and Job Creation Policies in
Australia. Inflation and Unemployment: Theory, Experience and Policy Making, p.325.
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Kennedy, E.T., Welch, C.E. and Monshipouri, M., 2017. Multinational corporations and the
ethics of global responsibility: Problems and possibilities. In Human Rights and
Corporations (pp. 123-147). Routledge.
Mavromaras, K., Sloane, P. and Wei, Z., 2015. The scarring effects of unemployment, low pay
and skills under-utilization in Australia compared. Applied Economics, 47(23), pp.2413-2429.
Opotow, S., 2018. Social justice theory and practice: Fostering inclusion in exclusionary
contexts. The Oxford handbook of social psychology and social justice, pp.41-58.
Pearson, R., 2016. Beyond ethical relativism in public relations: Coorientation, rules, and the
idea of communication symmetry. In Public relations research annual (pp. 77-96). Routledge.
Pearson, R., 2017. Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the
idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
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