09 Aug NSW PUBLIC SERVANTS HAULED BACK TO THE OFFICE; GENDER MILESTONE WITHIN REACH
NSW PUBLIC SERVANTS HAULED BACK TO THE OFFICE
NSW Premier Chris Minns fired the latest salvo in the Work-From-Home battles this week, announcing that the State’s 453,000 public sector workers will have to return to the office.
The NSW public service is Australia’s largest employer, and the announcement was directed at office workers not frontline staff like teachers, nurses, and the police, who already have to show up for work in person.
Commercial vacancies in NSW central business districts are at a 30-high, with office vacancies coming in at 11.6 per cent for Sydney and 19.4 per cent for Parramatta, and the NSW Government has said that it will rent out more office space to accommodate the expected influx of public sector workers if need be.
And whether you prefer working from home or from the office, The Australian has a reminder that employers track their employees’ work-related online activity even while they’re at home, with the most enthusiastic work from home warriors often becoming the first to be made redundant.
GENDER MILESTONE WITHIN REACH
Gender equity in Australia’s top companies is in sight as just thirty female directors need to be added to the ASX 200 boards to push female representation to 40%, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ASCI) says.
A milestone potentially achievable by the end of the year, ASCI, which represents more than $1 trillion in assets, is focusing its efforts by targeting companies with less than 30% female board members by advising investors to vote against male directors.
Despite recent progress, where all ASX 200 companies now have at least one woman on their board, 13 still have only one female director and according to ASCI CEO Louise Davison, there are “still a pretty decent number of boards that don’t have 30 per cent”.
TIKTOK TAKES GOLD
The 2024 Paris Olympics has captivated all generations, but is social media the driving force?
Realising that TV coverage primarily appeals to an older audience, platforms such as YouTube and NBC have sent popular influencers to Paris to produce bite-sized content to attract younger viewers. Influencer Sandra Kwon created a short video on fencing which explained the sport in one sentence, providing a platform for those more ‘niche’ sports.
Even Olympians like American rugby player Ilona Maher are going viral on TikTok with Olympic village tours and behind-the-scenes footage. These videos align with the International Olympic Committee’s mission to appeal to a broader audience, seen through the recent addition of urban sports like skateboarding and breakdancing in the historic competition.
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