emperorblackdoom wroteThe long-term 'recovery' has me very concerned. Part-time work continues to gain on full-time employment. And state governments across the country are crushing their unions.Business seems to be doing quite fine vis-a-vis labor
In Australia these have been the trends for the last 15 odd years.
emperorblackdoom wroteProductivity is rising but wages are stagnant.
Australians are pretty bad at productivity. We spend a lot of time at work but productivity is low.
Part of that was due to heavy unionisation at work which promoted heavy protectionism of staff rights. As it became next to impossible to fire anyone, workers became slack.
And wages are going up due to demand for skillde labour. Irony here is that many Australians are unskilled labourers. In fact a third of the population is functionally illiterate.
Again this is the result of a system that promotes "pursuing your dreams" at the expense of traditional education.
So many Australians pursue their "dreams" of being famous sports people, musicians or actors instead of focusing on getting a proper education.
The schools allow people to chose subjects. Kids chose "Rock Prac" or "Speech and Drama" over Maths and English.
So they come out of school as borderline illiterates and then get jobs stocking shelves at supermarkets or in call centres because it's more difficult becoming a famous athlete, actor or musician than it is to become an electrician or even a doctor.
Even the one's that go to Uni usually do dodgy degrees such as Arts. Entrance requirements for most courses are low. Many of our Uni students struggle to read (I shit you not). Technical schools offer yet more "arts" and "rock music" courses. Government uses this type of education to keep unemployment figures down.
Meanwhile there is a shortage of skilled trades (doctors, plumbers, electricians, nurses, mining engineers) so we import them from overseas.
Go figure!
Rant over.