Employment and Work Futures Practice Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key terms related to employment, wellbeing, income types, industrial sectors, and modern labour market issues based on the lecture notes.

Wellbeing

A combination of a person’s physical, mental, emotional and social health factors.

Work-life balance

Achieving the right amount of time devoted to work and for personal life.

Contractor

Workers with specific skillsets that are paid for according to their contracted time.

Trade union

Organisations of workers who actively seek better pay, safer working conditions and increase job security.

Employer association

Associations formed to protect the common interests of employers, such as the Australian industry group (AIG).

Labour force

Made up of people aged 15 and over who are either employed (including self-employed people) or unemployed.

Employed

A person aged 15 or older who worked for at least one hour in the week or had a job even though they weren’t at work, and received payment of some kind for their work.

Unemployed

A person aged 15 or older who is not employed for one hour or more, is actively seeking work, and is currently available for work.

Volunteer work

Work that is not paid but is essential for the functioning of our society.

Wages

Fixed regular payment paid in increments that an employee receives in exchange for their labour or services.

Salary

The total package of remuneration paid to an employee including base pay, superannuation, leave allowances, and other financial elements like bonuses.

Profit

The financial gain a business makes after its expenses are subtracted from its revenue, defined by the formula $\text{Profit} = \text{revenue} - \text{expenses}$.

Commission

A form of payment based on percentages of a bigger sale, often used as an incentive in sales when targets are reached.

Dividends

A sum of money paid regularly by a company to its shareholders out of its profits or reserves.

Occupation

The work or activities that a person performs in order to earn a living.

Industry

A group of businesses involved in similar or related work.

Primary Industry

An industry that produces raw materials from what nature has provided.

Secondary Industry

Includes all workers involved in turning raw materials into finished or semi-finished products.

Tertiary Industry

An industry that provides a service to others.

Quaternary Industry

Service industries that deal with processing information and knowledge.

Quinary Industry

Domestic services, many of which were once carried out by people within their own homes.

Participation rate

A measure of what percentage of the working population are participating in the workforce.

Gender pay gap

The measurement of the difference between the average earnings of women and men in the workforce.

Hybrid model

A combination of going into the office and working from home.

Frictional unemployment

Occurs when people are leaving their jobs and going in search of other jobs.

Cyclical unemployment

Occurs due to a fall in consumer spending, which reduces the demand for work.

Hard-core unemployment

Refers to people who cannot keep a job due to personal characteristics, such as mental health issues.

Seasonal unemployment

Occurs when jobs change depending on the seasons of the year, such as fruit picking.

Structural unemployment

Occurs when people’s skills are no longer needed due to changes in technology.

Unemployment rate formula

$$\text{Unemployment rate} = \frac{\text{number unemployed}}{\text{total labour force}} \times 100$$

Gig economy

A labour market that relies heavily on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors and freelancers rather than full-time permanent employees.

Age discrimination

The unfair treatment or exclusion of a person due to their age group, resulting from misconceptions and stereotypes.

Placement poverty

The financial hardship students face during unpaid work experiences required for their respective degree.