Workforce

About: Workforce is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 32140 publications have been published within this topic receiving 449850 citations. The topic is also known as: labour force & labor force.

Disability, Employment and Work Performance Among People with ICD-10 Anxiety Disorders

Abstract: Objective: To ascertain at a population level, patterns of disability, labour force participation, employment and work performance among people with ICD-10 anxiety disorders in compar ison to people without disability or long-term health conditions.Method: A secondary analysis was conducted of a probability sample of 42 664 individuals collected in an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) national survey in 1998. Trained lay interviewers using ICD-10 computer-assisted interviews identified household residents with anxiety disorders.Results: Anxiety disorders were associated with: reduced labour force participation, degraded employment trajectories and impaired work performance compared to people without disabilities or long-term health conditions.Conclusion: People with anxiety disorders may need more effective treatments and assistance with completing education and training, joining and rejoining the workforce, developing career pathways, remaining in the workforce and sustaining work performance. A whol...

Review of Australian higher education: final report [Bradley review]

Abstract: Higher education will clearly be a major contributor to the development of a skilled Australian workforce but must address the rights of all citizens to share in its benefits. This review was established to address the question of whether this critical sector of education is structured, organised and financed to position Australia to compete effectively in the new globalised economy. The panel has concluded that, while the system has great strengths, it faces significant, emerging threats which require decisive action. To address these, major reforms are recommended to the financing and regulatory frameworks for higher education. Key reforms are to increase the number of university graduates by more than one-third and to determine university funding according to student demand using a voucher system. Recommendations affecting the vocational education and training (VET) sector include that: (1) VET and higher education providers should continue to enhance pathways for students through the development and implementation of common terminology and graded assessment in the upper levels of VET; (2) the Australian government negotiate with the states and territories to expand the national regulatory and quality assurance agency to cover the entire tertiary sector (including VET and higher education) and that the government assume full responsibility for the regulation of tertiary education and training in Australia by 2010; (3) the Australian government negotiate with the states and territories to introduce a tertiary entitlement funding model across higher education and VET commencing with the upper levels of VET (diplomas and advanced diplomas) and progressing to the other levels as soon as practicable; (4) the government negotiate with the states and territories to extend income contingent loans to students enrolled in VET diplomas and advanced diplomas; and (5) the Australian government and the governments of the states and territories agree to: establish a single ministerial council with responsibility for all tertiary education and training; improve the scope and coordination of labour market intelligence so that it covers the whole tertiary sector and supports a more responsive and dynamic role for both VET and higher education; and expand the purpose and role of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) so that it covers the whole tertiary sector.

Learning Language for Work and Life: The Linguistic Socialization of Immigrant Canadians Seeking Careers in Healthcare

Abstract: This article discusses research on ESL for the workplace, identifying gaps in the existing literature and promising directions for new explorations. A qualitative study was conducted in one type of program for immigrant women and men in Western Canada seeking to become long-term resident care aides or home support workers. The study examined the linguistic and social processes at work in the education and integration of immigrant ESL speakers into the workforce and the broader community; the issues participants in such programs face; and the insights that can be gleaned for understanding language socialization in this context. Of particular interest was the contrast observed in one such program between the focus on medical and general English language proficiency, as well as nursing skills, and the actual communication requirements within institutions with large numbers of staff and patients who do not speak English, and who, in the case of the elderly, may also face communication difficulties associated ...

Temporary Arrangements: The Activities of Employment Agencies in the UK:

Abstract: Temporary employment agency working has increased dramatically in recent years. Labour Force Survey figures reveal that the number of workers employed on a temporary basis through agencies increased in the UK from 50,000 in 1984 to 250,000 in 1999, by which point temporary agency staff (temps) constituted 1.1 per cent of the employed workforce (Casey 1988: 490; Department of Trade and Industry 1999: 109). Studies which have considered UK employers' use of different forms of labour have revealed a range of reasons as to why firms seek recourse to employment agencies (McGregor and Sproull 1991; Hunter and MacInnes 1991; Cully et al. 1999). The 1998 UK Workplace Employee Relations Survey, for example, has indicated that of workplaces using agency staff, 59 per cent were doing so to provide short-term cover. Adjusting the workforce in line with demand was cited as a reason by 40 per cent of firms, and covering for maternity leave by 22 per cent of users (Cully et al. 1999:37).