Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies

This article examines skill and labour shortages within rural agricultural industries in Western Australia. It draws on primary and secondary data, including 600 survey respondents in the sector. It is determined that there may be a shortage of farm workers during the busy seasons, while they are un...

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Main Authors: Storer, Christine, Connell, Julia
Format: Journal Article
Published: National Institute of Labour Studies 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5352
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author Storer, Christine
Connell, Julia
author_facet Storer, Christine
Connell, Julia
author_sort Storer, Christine
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This article examines skill and labour shortages within rural agricultural industries in Western Australia. It draws on primary and secondary data, including 600 survey respondents in the sector. It is determined that there may be a shortage of farm workers during the busy seasons, while they are unemployed during the low seasons. Consequently, it is proposed that a human capability framework is utilised to encourage farm owners and (or) workers to consider the potential for labour-harmonisation strategies which would allow workers to transit between working on the land during the busy seasons and in mining during the low seasons. The outcomes of the study are considered in relation to indicators of precarious work illustrating that LH could enable an easing of labour shortages for both the farming and mining sectors, while providing benefits for the respective workers, employers, and the region in general.
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publishDate 2013
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-53522017-01-30T10:45:38Z Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies Storer, Christine Connell, Julia Skilled labor Agricultural industries This article examines skill and labour shortages within rural agricultural industries in Western Australia. It draws on primary and secondary data, including 600 survey respondents in the sector. It is determined that there may be a shortage of farm workers during the busy seasons, while they are unemployed during the low seasons. Consequently, it is proposed that a human capability framework is utilised to encourage farm owners and (or) workers to consider the potential for labour-harmonisation strategies which would allow workers to transit between working on the land during the busy seasons and in mining during the low seasons. The outcomes of the study are considered in relation to indicators of precarious work illustrating that LH could enable an easing of labour shortages for both the farming and mining sectors, while providing benefits for the respective workers, employers, and the region in general. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5352 National Institute of Labour Studies fulltext
spellingShingle Skilled labor
Agricultural industries
Storer, Christine
Connell, Julia
Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies
title Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies
title_full Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies
title_fullStr Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies
title_full_unstemmed Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies
title_short Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skill Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies
title_sort akubras to hard hats: easing skill shortages through labour harmonisation strategies
topic Skilled labor
Agricultural industries
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5352