24 May JOB MARKET CRACKS; PESKY PRIVACY POLICIES
JOB MARKET CRACKS
With Telstra’s surprise announcement about axing 2,800 jobs coming hot on the heels an uptick in unemployment to 4.1 per cent, questions are being asked about whether this is just the start of a spate of mass sackings.
Telstra’s job cuts should “set alarm bells ringing loudly in Canberra” in case other big corporates are tempted to restructure to help rein in costs as the economy slows, The Australian’s associate editor Eric Johnston wrote in his analysis. Professor John Buchanan, from the University of Sydney’s business school, told the ABC the deep structural changes that have been going on under the surface in some sectors, such as tech, are now becoming more obvious given unemployment is rising.
Meanwhile, the news isn’t looking bright for job hunters, with SEEK’s measure of job ads dropping nearly five per cent in April, with total ads down by 18.6 per cent in the past year. SEEK Australia-New Zealand managing director Kendra Banks told the SMH firms looking to hire now had more options, with the number of people applying for jobs up 8.6 per cent.
PESKY PRIVACY POLICIES
For many of us, when we see a privacy policy or a terms and conditions page, we scroll to the bottom without reading it and click accept.
The ACCC’s latest report on the Digital Platform Services Inquiry found that many Australians are unaware of how much personal data is collected about them daily through these policies.
According to the report, it would take the average person almost 46 hours per month to read every privacy policy they encountered in full – that’s equivalent to watching all eight Harry Potter movies more than twice. I wonder which is more fun…
The ACCC said that because of this length of time, consumers “usually have no choice but to accept the terms and conditions” to access a product or service, resulting in the sharing of personal information like contact details, income, biometric data, real-time location, medical history, and transaction history.
COFEE IS STIMULATING THE LATEST WFH CONTROVERSY
The war on working from home continues this week with some UK employers revealing a shocking reality in which they are struggling to cope. More workers are ‘Coffee badging’ – an act of performatively grabbing a coffee near a manager to earn a ‘badge’ or credit before sneakily leaving a short time later.
According to a survey, a third of workers who are able to work flexibly admit to coffee badging. The issue is rife in corporate environments!
Bosses are naturally frustrated, with reports that productivity and team culture have declined, with some now threatening to actively review swipe card entry data to ensure their people are meeting flexibility guidelines. The conflict continues…
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