ICT Jobs and Productivity

By Ted Smillie - Monday, July 30th, 2018

This month brings some further thoughts on ICT jobs and productivity from a range of Public and Private Sector gurus. An 18 July 2018 report in The Mandarin  The future of work: is it something completely different? gives the text of a speech by the Productivity Commission’s Deputy Chair, Karen Chester, to the Committee for […]

Working four-day weeks for five days’ pay? Research shows it pays off

By Jarrod Haar, Professor of Human Resource Management, Auckland University of Technology - Wednesday, July 25th, 2018

Employees at a New Zealand company behind an innovative trial of a four-day working week have declared it a resounding success, with 78% saying they were better able to manage their work-life balance.

Perpetual Guardian, which manages trusts and wills, released their findings from the trial, which was prompted by research that suggests modern workers are only productive for about three hours in a working day.

Fixing the shortage of specialist science and maths teachers will be hard, not impossible

By Simon Crook, Honorary Associate, School of Physics, University of Sydney - Wednesday, July 11th, 2018

Across Australia, we are facing a massive shortage of specialist mathematics and science teachers, particularly in physics and chemistry. With imminent retirements and poor retention rates, this problem will only get worse. It has already reached crisis point in some areas.

This week, during his opening address at the Australia Science Teachers’ Association annual conference, Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham announced the federal government plans to ensure every high school has access to specialist science and maths teachers. This was also announced just prior on Channel 9’s Today Show.

Open plan offices reduce collaboration, study finds

By David Donaldson - Friday, July 6th, 2018

Many organisations bring in open plan offices to increase collaboration between employees, but doing so could actually reduce staff interaction, research suggests.

A study of two American private sector workplaces found that moving from a traditional layout to an open office environment decreased face-to-face interaction between employees by around 70%.