NEWS
BR IEFING
Keep up to date with the latest news surrounding the role of the EA
Robots aren’t going to take your job
The future of work looks good,
according to the latest report from
professional services firm, Deloitte.
The report titled ‘Building the Lucky
Country’ was released in mid-June.
The extensive research debunks
a number of myths that have many
employees—EAs included—worrying
about their future career prospects.
First on the list, robots aren’t going
to take your job. The report suggests
that despite how quickly technology
is changing the way we work, it won’t
replace us. With historically low
unemployment rates in the US, Europe
and Australia, technology creates as
many (if not more) jobs on the market
than it takes out.
Technology’s ability to perform
repetitive tasks will augment
employment opportunities, not replace
them. The future of work will involve
softer and more human skills like
creativity and critical analysis.
“New technologies create as many
jobs as they kill, it’s just that the ones
they kill are obvious, while the ones
South Australia
pulls ahead in
jobs race
South Australia’s employment
has overtaken Queensland,
Tasmania and Western Australia
as Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) data has shown a drop
in the state’s unemployment
percentage. The rate dropped
from 6.1 to 5.7 percent in May.
Commenting on the figures, SA
Innovation and Skills Minister,
David Pisoni said, “These are
encouraging jobs figures for
South Australia, but we know
that there is much work to be
done to ensure the SA economy
continues to grow.” S
12 Chief of Staff | Issue 3 2019
they create are hiding in plain sight,”
Deloitte partner, Chris Richardson, told
the National Press Club in June.
The report also found that the gig
economy isn’t taking over. “45 percent
of workers have been with their current
employer for more than five years,”
said the report, and casual jobs actually
take up a smaller share of the total job
market than twenty years ago.
And lastly, working from home or
from a beach somewhere is unlikely to
become a reality anytime soon, despite
more employers offering remote
working arrangements.
Flexible working opportunities are
more likely to help people pick up
kids in the afternoon than to eliminate
the need for an office. As our work
becomes more creative we will need to
be in close proximity to one another to
share ideas, collaborate and socialise.
The report’s executive summary
reads, “We are not facing a dystopian
future of rising unemployment, aimless
career paths and empty offices. Quite
the opposite—we can use technology
to our advantage to create more
meaningful work. In doing so, our
message in this report is simple: the
future of work will be human.” S
Diversity & Inclusion policy
possibly pointless?
Management consulting firm,
Boston Consulting Group (BCG),
recently conducted research that
reveals Diversity & Inclusion policies
in Australian workplaces are displaying
disappointing results.
Released in June, the report
surveyed 1600 Australian employees
to see how effective they felt their
workplaces’ Diversity & Inclusion
policies were. 97 percent of
respondents said their workplace
had at least one Diversity & Inclusion
policy in place, yet “only 11 percent
of women, 14 percent of ethnically
diverse, and 18 percent of LGBTQ+
employees feel they have benefited
from their company’s specific D&I
programs,” the report reads.
The report outlines that many
companies’ Diversity & Inclusion
policy has unclear outcomes and
objectives, and fails to resonate with
the workforce.
“Only 32 percent of employees
report direct exposure to their
company’s D&I programs, and
only 59 percent of employees say
they understand the goals of these
programs,” the report reads.
“These results suggest that
companies are designing D&I programs
without truly understanding what their
employees need.” S