Interpac Business and Migration Solutions Melbourne Australia

February 12, 2010

Geoff Surtees lost his job in digital marketing fifteen months ago and has been unable to land a permanent position since.
 
Instead, Mr Surtees has had to rely on a part-time job at a bank and the earnings of his wife's mobile massage and manicure business to meet the household bills, including the mortgage on their home in the inner Sydney suburb of Randwick.
 
''We're slowly crawling our way out of this but I still can't secure a full-time job,'' Mr Surtrees, 46 said. ''Until I do, I can't say we're out of the woods.''
 
Unsurprisingly, Mr Surtrees was not among the pundits and politicians cheering yesterday's labour force figures, which showed the economy added 52,700 jobs last month, trimming the jobless rate to 5.3 per cent.

The fact part-time positions accounted for two-thirds of the extra jobs was only part of the reason to mute the celebrations. Actual hours worked fell for the month - about 14.8 million, or 1 per cent - underscoring the weakness in demand for staff that continues at many work places across the country.

The drop in hours was the most in about a year. More broadly, while the economy has added almost 200,000 positions over the past year, more than half have been for part-timers.

Recruiters confirm the trend, saying that while there's been a definite up-tick in the number of temporary assignments doled out, permanent full-time hiring continues to languish.

For one auto dealership employee in Melbourne, landing a permanent slot meant turning down two part-time jobs, and possibly a fatter pay cheque.
 
The full-time position he landed in October was ''a significant move down,''  he said. ''From where I sit the economy is not running as flash as they may like us to think... if industries like mine are venturing into part-time work as a part and parcel of doing business.''
 
'Soft underbelly'
 
Nomura International's Stephen Roberts said January's fall in hours shows a "soft underbelly'' to the sinking unemployment rate.
 
For people who can't get enough work, fewer hours paid hours will ultimately affect the growth in household disposable incomes, the economist said.
 
That in turn will cap consumers' confidence to spend and restrain the economy's recovery from last year's slowdown.
 
Mr Roberts said a measure of the jobless rate that includes people working fewer hours than they prefer - the labour under-utilisation rate - was 13.5 per cent of November 2009.
 
He expects it will rise to 13.7 when it's updated next month - a new peak.
 
By comparison, the under-utilisation rate fell as low as 10 per cent in August 2008, before the financial crisis hit.
 
For Mr Surtees, still hunting for permanent work, the concept of being underutilised is one he can readily relate to.
 
''The bottom line is, I'm still looking,'' he said.

(Source from Theage.com.au)