Australians are the world’s most positive about temporary work
According to a new study by Page Personnel, a global recruitment consultancy firm, employees in Australia have the most positive attitude towards temporary work across the 17 countries it surveyed.
The report is based on more than 13,000 responses from employers and professionals across the world, the Global Insights: How the World Views Temporary Employment and Interim Management. It revealed 78.6% of professionals in Australia have a positive or very positive attitude towards temporary work.
Employers are generally confident about the value that temporary employment provides. Positivity is greater in countries with longer practice of temporary employment; such as Australia, the UK and Canada were temporary employment has become accepted as a fact of working life.
Source: Page Personnel, 2014
Notably, Australia also employs the second-highest percentage of temporary workers in the world (2.8% of the total working population), according to the report.
Matthew Cook, managing director of Page Personnel in Australia, commented “In the current economic climate, employers need the efforts of skilled professionals to sustain business activity, but can’t always commit to a permanent arrangement.
Cook added that businesses in Australia are uncertain about the course of the economy and are responding by implementing cost-saving measures, including careful headcount planning.
“Creating temporary roles is the best way to achieve this as it allows companies flexibility with hiring the resources they need for necessary projects, without a permanent cost,” he stated.
The data suggests that Australian employees also have a positive attitude toward temporary employment and are accepting contracting roles as a viable work option. Mr. Cook said “The reason for this is temporary positions offer immediate job security and the opportunity to experience the role prior to committing to a permanent role.
The main motivator behind employers’ use of temp workers goes a lot further than just fulfilling short-term human resource needs; they consistently included:
Source: Page Personnel, 2014
The top two motivators for surveyed professionals in Australia to accept a temporary role is to help build their professional network (74.5%) and stay employed during a time of economic uncertainty (73.1%).
To view the full report on how the world view temporary work, please click here.
