Do industries shed jobs when they adopt new labor-saving technologies? Sometimes productivity-enhancing technology increases industry employment instead. In manufacturing, jobs grew along with productivity for a century or more; only later did productivity gains bring declining employment. What changed? Markets became saturated. While the literature on structural change provides reasons for the decline in the...

Within the construction industry, as elsewhere, organisations develop strategic plans for increasing the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – but what makes for a good plan?

Abstract This report examines trends in participation in vocational education and training, and attainment of vocational qualifications, among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during 2002–15. The report also investigates whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a higher-level vocational qualification are more likely to subsequently gain employment than those with a lower-level vocational...

In this policy brief, we highlight the impact of the speed and the scale that digital innovation will have in disrupting labor markets in the future, which requires anticipating policy responses now. We advocate for the formation of new social partnerships between business, labor, governments, financial institutions, and social stakeholders to forge comprehensive policy responses...

There have been a number of alleged cases of labour exploitation involving temporary migrant workers in Australia since the late 1990s. The Australian construction industry was identified as particularly problematic, with allegations of deception in relation to work contracts, lack of compliance with employment standards, limited autonomy and threats of abuse levelled.